CHAPTER XXIX.
Wherein Captain Galligasken has a few Words to say about Lee's Surrender, and demonstrates, to his own and his Reader's entire Satisfaction, that the illustrious Soldier is not an accidental Hero.
If Grant had been the "butcher" which the rebels declared him to be, if he had been less magnanimous than he was, he would have compelled rather than "asked" the surrender of Lee's broken army. The Confederate general knew that he was surrounded, and that he was utterly incapable of fighting another general battle. Grant addressed the following letter to him from Farmville:—
"April 7, 1865.
"General: The result of the last week must convince you of the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the army of Northern Virginia in this struggle. I feel that it is so, and regard it as my duty to shift from myself the responsibility of any further effusion of blood by asking of you the surrender of that portion of the Confederate States army known as the army of Northern Virginia.
U.S. Grant, Lieutenant General."
Lee replied, in a note of the same date, that, though he did not entertain the opinion expressed by Grant of the hopelessness of further resistance, he reciprocated the desire to avoid the useless effusion of blood, and asked what terms would be offered on condition of the surrender of his army. Pollard makes Lee say that he was not entirely of Grant's opinion of the hopelessness of further resistance. Pollard admires and glorifies Lee, and aims to soften the affectation of his letter, wherein he ignores the fact that his men were utterly demoralized, starved, unarmed, and unable either to fight or to run. That ridiculous Virginian pride which had sacrificed thousands of lives after the cause of the South was known to be hopeless, was still in the ascendency.
On the 8th Sheridan captured twenty-five guns, four trains of cars with supplies, and a hospital train. Grant replied to Lee's disingenuous note, and, pleading in the interests of peace and humanity, dealing gently with the pride of the fallen Virginian, offered the most liberal terms. Peace being his chief desire, he insisted only on one condition—that the officers and men of the rebel army should, by the surrender, be disqualified for taking up arms again until properly exchanged. He proposed a meeting, to interchange views and regulate terms, thus magnanimously taking upon himself the initiative in what must be so disagreeable to the rebel general.
Lee promptly replied that he had not proposed to surrender—only to ask the terms of Grant's proposition. "To be frank, I do not think the emergency has arisen to call for the surrender of this army," he writes. How a Virginian gentleman, wedded to truth and honor, could make such a statement as this, passes the belief of one who was brought up to be faithful to the homely New England virtues. If the emergency had not arisen, then, in the surrender, Lee was a traitor to the South, as from the beginning he had been to the national government. But he condescends to meet Grant. The lieutenant general declines to see Lee to make a treaty of peace, but he explains that peace will come when the South lays down its arms. On the 9th the rebels made a desperate effort to break through the cavalry which surrounded them, and force a way out of the net into which they had fallen. They were signally defeated, and held in their position. This was the last struggle, and the enemy was in the last corner of the "last ditch." A white flag soon appears in front of the Confederate line. Lee has come to his senses at last, and asks for an interview to arrange the terms of surrender. The emergency has actually arisen at last.
The meeting took place in the house of Mr. Wilmer McLean. It was a grand occasion, worthy the pen of the historian or the pencil of the artist. The grand army of Northern Virginia had been "hammered" till there was almost nothing left of it. Grant had stuck to it from the Rapidan, thirteen months before, until only its shadow was now left, and even that was dissolving before its conqueror.
Lee appeared dressed "more gayly" than usual, wearing the elegant sword presented to him by his friends, strictly observing all the requirements of courtesy. He was formal, precise, and still dignified, notwithstanding the humiliating task he was called upon to perform. Grant wore his ordinary uniform, but carried no sword. The terms of the surrender were agreed upon, and signed by both parties. The rebels were to be paroled, after marching out and stacking their arms. The officers were to retain their side arms, private horses, and baggage. Each officer and man was to be allowed to return to his home, not to be disturbed by United States authority so long as he observed his parole, and obeyed the laws in force where he resided.
The rebel general acknowledged the magnanimity of his conqueror in giving him and his army such exceedingly favorable terms—terms which finally saved all included in their provisions from the penalty of treason. Even my friend Pollard begins to see that Grant is a noble-minded, magnanimous man, and praises his conduct without stint or measure. On the 12th the army of Northern Virginia appeared for the last time on the stage as a body. They formed their last parade, stacked their arms, and parked their artillery, to be taken possession of by the Union troops. Grant was not present at this ceremonial, for he was not a man to indulge in any exultation over his fallen foe, and his delicacy was duly appreciated by the rebels. Pollard's testimony, at this point, indicates a just apprehension of the illustrious soldier; a candid recognition of those traits of character which I have tried to exhibit throughout my work; and I cannot do better than quote his words.
"Indeed, this Federal commander had, in the closing scenes of the contest, behaved with a magnanimity and decorum that must ever be remembered to his credit, even by those who disputed his reputation in other respects, and denied his claims to great generalship. He had, with remarkable facility, accorded honorable and liberal terms to the vanquished army. He did nothing to dramatize the surrender; he made no triumphal entry into Richmond; he avoided all those displays of triumph so dear to the Northern heart; he spared everything that might wound the feelings or imply the humiliation of a vanquished foe. There were no indecent exultations, no 'sensations,' no shows; he received the surrender of his adversary with every courteous recognition due an honorable enemy, and conducted the closing scenes with as much simplicity as possible."
Seven thousand five hundred rebels only appeared as the wreck of the army of Northern Virginia, though eighteen thousand "stragglers," hammered out of the line by Grant's persistent pounding, came forward and claimed the benefit of the surrender. After my courteous friend, the author of The Lost Cause, has so kindly furnished me with material for this biography, it pains me to be compelled to raise any further objections to his veracity; but his arithmetic is sadly at fault. He struggles earnestly to convey the impression that Grant, from the Rapidan to Appomattox, was fighting a mere handful of men, which the Union army outnumbered in the ratio of three or four to one; and some of Grant's Northern enemies, or lukewarm friends, have been too willing to use his figures. Pollard says Lee had thirty-three thousand, at both Richmond and Petersburg, in the first months of 1865.
He mentions twenty-five thousand five hundred at the surrender, acknowledges that five thousand were taken prisoners in the "shameful misfortune" at Five Forks, and permits us to imply that about the same number were captured at Sailor's Creek,—thus making up thirty-five thousand five hundred, without counting the killed and wounded, though he says of Fort Gregg, that only thirty of two hundred and fifty composing the garrison survived the defence. Long before the fortunes of the day became desperate in the extreme, Pollard groans over heavy losses and numerous stragglers. Undoubtedly the national army did outnumber the rebels. Either General Lee was no general, and was the stupidest fanatic that even the Southern Confederacy contained, or he had at least fifty thousand men under his command, which was by recognized military rules, a fair proportion, fighting behind elaborate fortifications, to the force of the national army. Thirty-three thousand men could not have held his lines twenty-four hours. In my humble opinion, he had from seventy-five to a hundred thousand men. I should cease to respect him as a rebel if he had not, for it would have been inhumanity and butchery for him to stand out with a less number.
Grant immediately sent the main body of the army to Burkville. Sherman received the news of Lee's surrender, and Johnston proposed a meeting to arrange terms for a capitulation. They were drawn up, but sent to the capital for approval. The lieutenant general went immediately to Washington. His mission in the field was ended. His name was on every tongue as the greatest of conquerors. He had given the finishing stroke to the greatest rebellion the world had ever seen. All over the nation the people were rejoicing. Cannon thundered forth the joy of the country, and the old flag was spread to the breeze, tenfold more dear now that it waved again over a united nation.
Grant went on his way quietly to the national capital, with no pomp and parade to announce the progress of the conqueror. He did not even go to Richmond on his way—the city which had been a stumbling-block in the path of the Union armies, now fallen by the might of his genius and his persistency. So quietly did he travel, that it was hardly known he had arrived. He hastened to the War Department, where the indefatigable Stanton heartily congratulated him. The lieutenant general still meant business, though it was now the details of peace instead of those of war. On the morning of the assassination of President Lincoln he attended a cabinet meeting. He suggested to the government that as the war was practically ended, the enormous expenses of the army should be immediately reduced. All drafting and recruiting in the loyal states were suspended, and large reductions were proposed.
It was announced that Grant would attend the theatre in the evening with the president; but having arrived on the day before, he was anxious to see his family, and started for Trenton. Probably the dagger which Booth flourished was intended for the lieutenant general; but Providence had other work for him to do, and he was miraculously spared. On receiving the tidings of the assassination, he returned instantly to Washington, and attended the funeral of his steadfast friend and supporter.
Sherman's arrangement with Johnston was promptly disapproved by the government, and Grant went to Raleigh to smooth the way with his veteran friend to close up this unpleasant business. The surrender was received on the same terms that had been granted to Lee, and on this basis all the remaining armies of the Rebellion laid down their arms. Towards the last of May there was a grand review in Washington, which occupied two days. The brave veterans marched before the chief officers of the government and of the army; then doffed their blue uniform, and became private citizens. This was the last act in the drama of the Great Rebellion, exhibiting the crowning glory of our republic in the facility with which legions of armed men lay aside their military character, and resort to the peaceful occupations of the country.
The war was ended! The thought thrilled the people even more than the fact of hostilities had in the beginning. The reflection was all the more thrilling because the strife had ended in victory. It makes us shudder to think of the condition of the country if it had ended in defeat, if the unconquerable spirit of the North would ever have let it end in such a calamity. The nation realized the blessing which was born of the triumph of the national arms. I can conceive of such a thing as the continuance of the war until both North and South were ruined—until the nation crumbled to pieces by the weight of its own miseries.
From such a fate I honestly, candidly, and conscientiously believe Grant saved his country. There was no other man in all the land to accomplish the work which he performed. There was not another general who had the genius, the moral and mental attributes, for the stupendous task. I earnestly and gratefully recognize the inestimable value of the services even of those who failed to achieve what was expected and required of them. Those gallant men who successively commanded the army of the Potomac lacked some essential requisite in the sum total of character which the emergency demanded. Grant possessed them all, in such singular harmony that he alone could direct the army in the path to victory. All others failed; he alone succeeded.
It is hardly necessary to analyze the means by which he succeeded in his gigantic enterprise. Others turned back from the goal when their strategy failed, when the rules of warfare failed in their application. Grant used his strategy and his tactics to the utmost, and passed them for all they were worth. When they were no longer available, he "hammered" the enemy. When the old rules failed, he made new ones. He was an art and a science unto himself.
I say Grant was the only man who could conquer the Rebellion; the only one who had the elements of success in him. I, Bernard Galligasken, say this, and I speak advisedly, knowing what I say. During the war, men went from the ranks up to generals of division in a couple of years. If any one had any military talent, he went up like a rocket, and, alas! he often went down like one, when he had soared to the ethereal regions whose air he could not breathe and live.
Almost all who were heroes in the first year of the war were laid on the shelf before it was half finished. Corporals became colonels, and major generals disappeared from the scene of strife. If there was a skilful and patriotic man in the army, he was raised up; if there was an unskilful one, he was pulled down, whatever height he had attained. The need of the nation was desperate, and it could court or flatter no man who was not successful. For three long years the army was hungry for a competent leader, but found him not. The government longed for a mighty man, and was always ready to give him all the honors and all the power it had, without asking his politics, his religion, his antecedents, or even his nationality. There was a chance for any man who had the needed ability; the army, the people, the government, were ready to take him, when he won his laurel, elevate him to the highest position, go down on their knees before him, obey him, trust him, follow him. The path that Grant trod was open to every soldier, and, indeed, to every civilian.
Where are McClellan, Fremont, Buell, Rosecrans, Pope, Hooker, Burnside? I believe that the country owes them all a debt of gratitude for what they did in the war, and ought to forgive them for what they did not do. All of them were placed in positions to achieve the high eminence which Grant reached. It is no discredit to them that they did not succeed in them. I am not willing to believe that it was their fault that they failed, even while each of them may justly be held responsible for his own mistakes. I only wish to show that each of them had, if not a fair chance, at least the same chance that Grant had; certainly none of them was more maligned, none of them more savagely treated by politicians and evil advisers in Washington. If some of them were not trusted as long as Grant, it was only because they did not exhibit abilities which gave the same promise of ultimate success.
Grant was no accidental hero. I have followed him through the struggles of his brilliant career, and I declare upon my sacred honor as a soldier and an historian, that never a success did he win which he did not work for. Behold him at Donelson, threading his way, in the cold blasts of that bitter storm, among his weary, freezing soldiers, day after day and night after night, wresting victory from the opposing elements! Could it have been an accident that he won that brilliant victory, after the herculean labor he personally performed, after the severe sufferings which he personally endured, after the savage fighting in which he personally engaged? Was it an accident, that, in the midst of disaster, he gave the startling order to charge upon the enemy's strong works, and made fighting men out of soldiers demoralized and defeated? Behold him in the Vicksburg campaign, standing up by the might of his potent will, and against the advice of all his trusted generals, cutting loose from his supplies, and fighting battle after battle, till the foe was driven within his stronghold! Was this success an accident? See him sleeping on the ground with his faithful soldiers, with no covering but the stars; see him marching by day and watching by night, attending to the minutest details of the commissary and the quartermaster! Every success was wrung from opposing elements, and carried through over the most stupendous obstacle. See him, partially disabled, with his head pillowed upon a stump, in the pelting rain, after the hard-fought day at Shiloh, exhausted by his superhuman labors, stealing an hour of rest to keep him alive for the duties of another day—see him, and declare that accidental heroes are not made after this fashion! Go with him, crippled in body, and worn out with suffering on a sick bed, to the gloom of defeat and starvation at Chattanooga! Follow him as he moves about on his crutches through the streets of that beleaguered town, bringing light out of darkness, joy and victory out of misery and disaster. Not thus do accidental heroes soar to sublime heights.
Accidental fortune is not thus constant. To the hero crowned with success, as Grant is, only a lofty patriotism, a sublime devotion to his country, and a splendid genius, can be constant. These desert him never. These triumph over all obstacles, bearing their possessor to the loftiest pinnacle of fame, and, better still, to the highest place in the regards of a free and intelligent people, as they have borne Grant. No accident, no combination of accidents, could have lifted him up, or sustained him a single year.
In the selection of his subordinates Grant won half his success. Cool, unbiassed judgment did its perfect work for him. His singleness of purpose freed him from bias. He raised men up, or he threw them down, only in the interests of the hallowed cause to which he gave his whole mind and heart. No man ever lived, or ever will live, who more entirely sunk himself in the work he had engaged to do. If any high officer stood in the way of the success of the Union arms, he was removed; for Grant always knew his man. He was wholly free from personal prejudice and partiality. He elevated no man who was not fit to be elevated. Of the prominent officers who stood the test of the war, every one was either raised up by Grant, or stood approved by him. Sherman and Sheridan were his protégés; Thomas owed his position as an independent commander to him; Meade and Schofield have to thank him for the high places they hold to-day. He selected them for the great work they did; and while they, in a sense, built him up, he afforded them the opportunity to which their ability entitled them. In building up himself, he built them up; in saving the nation, they saved each other, and won imperishable renown.
"The soldiers and sailors are not all for a sham hero, a creature of fortuitous circumstances," said a noted political general at a convention of which Wade Hampton and Forrest, ex-rebel generals, were members, to say nothing of the Northern traitors who had stabbed the government in the back during the whole course of the war. He alluded to Grant, the nominee of the national party of the Union—our Standard-Bearer in the contest which is to complete the victory won on the Southern battle-fields. This same political general was a brave man—as brave as any negro private whom his fellow-member in the convention butchered at Fort Pillow; but he was the marplot of Grant's Vicksburg campaign. Scores of brave men were slaughtered at Champion's Hill by his criminal delay to obey his superior's orders. At Shiloh, Sherman fought his division for him, because he did not know how himself. The key to this sneer about the "creature of fortuitous circumstances" is found in the fact that Grant removed from command the author of the phrase at Vicksburg, for publishing a stupid, ridiculous, and sensational order, wherein he arrogated to himself the principal glory of the fighting at Vicksburg, whereas he was notoriously dilatory, lax, and incompetent in the discharge of his duties. If the Lord, in his infinite wisdom, permitted any "sham heroes" to be inflicted upon our war-stricken nation, the author of this sentence was the principal of them. It was Grant's chief glory that he conquered in spite of such malignant obstacles in his path. But our glorious Standard-Bearer needs no defence at my hands, and I humbly apologize for bringing this viper of the New York Convention into my story.