over the result, and was too manly to show it. Whatever his feelings, they were entirely concealed from my observation; but my own feelings, which had been quite jubilant on the receipt of his letter, were sad and depressed. I felt like anything rather than rejoicing at the downfall of a foe who had fought so long and valiantly, and had suffered so much for a cause, though that cause was, I believe, one of the worst for which a people ever fought, and one for which there was the least excuse. I do not question, however, the sincerity of the great mass of those who were opposed to us. General Lee was dressed in a full uniform which was entirely new, and was wearing a sword of considerable value, very likely the sword which had been presented by the State of Virginia; at all events, it was an entirely different sword from the one that would ordinarily be worn in the field. In my rough traveling suit, the uniform of a private with the straps of a lieutenant-general, I must have contrasted very strangely with a man so handsomely dressed, six feet high and of faultless form. But this was not a matter that I thought of until afterwards. We soon fell into a conversation about old army times. He remarked that he remembered me very well in the old army; and I told him that as a matter of course I remembered him perfectly, but from the difference in our rank and years (there being about sixteen years' difference in our ages), I had thought it very likely that I had not attracted his attention sufficiently to be remembered by him after such a long interval. Our conversation grew so pleasant that I almost forgot the object of our meeting. After the conversation had run on in this style for some time, General Lee called my attention to the object of our meeting, and said that he had asked for this interview for the purpose of getting from me the terms I proposed to give his army. I said that I meant merely that his army should lay down their arms, not to take them up again during the continuance of the war unless duly and properly exchanged. He said that he had so understood my letter. Then we gradually fell off again into conversation about matters foreign to the subject which had brought us together. This continued for some little time, when General Lee again interrupted the course of the conversation by suggesting that the terms I proposed to give his army ought to be written out. I called to General Parker, secretary on my staff, for writing materials, and commenced writing out the following terms [April 9.] . . . In accordance with the substance of my letter to you of the 8th inst., I propose to receive the surrender of the Army of N. Va. on the following terms, to wit: Rolls of all the officers and men to be made in duplicate. One copy to be given to an officer designated by me, the other to be retained by such officer or officers as you may designate. The officers to give their individual paroles not to take up arms against the Government of the United States until properly exchanged, and each company or regimental commander sign a like parole for the men of their commands. The arms, artillery and public property to be parked and stacked, and turned over to the officer appointed by me to receive them. This will not embrace the side-arms of the officers, nor their private horses or baggage. This done, each officer and man will be allowed to return to their homes, not to be disturbed by United States authority so long as they observe their paroles and the laws in force where they may reside. . . . When I put my pen to the paper I did not know the first word that I should make use of in writing the terms. I only knew what was in my mind, and I wished to express it clearly, so that there could be no mistaking it. As I wrote on, the thought occurred to me that the officers had their own private horses and effects, which were important to them, but of no value to us; also that it would be an unnecessary humiliation to call upon them to deliver their side arms. No conversation, not one word, passed between General Lee and myself, either about private property, side arms, or kindred subjects. He appeared to have no objections to the terms first proposed; or if he had a point to make against them he wished to wait until they were in writing to make it. When he read over that part of the terms about side arms, horses and private property of the officers, he remarked, with some feeling, I thought, that this would have a happy effect upon his army. Then, after a little further conversation, General Lee remarked to me again that their army was organized a little differently from the army of the United States (still maintaining by implication that we were two countries); that in their army the cavalrymen and artillerists owned their own horses; and he asked if he was to understand that the men who so owned their horses were to be permitted to retain them. I told him that as the terms were written they would not; that only the officers were permitted to take their private property. He then, after reading over the terms a second time, remarked that that was clear. I then said to him that I thought this would be about the last battle of the war I sincerely hoped so; and I said further I took it that most of the men in the ranks were small farmers. The whole country had been so raided by the two armies that it was doubtful whether they would be able to put in a crop to carry themselves and their families through the next winter without the aid of the horses they were then riding. The United States did not want them and I would, therefore, instruct the officers I left behind to receive the paroles of his troops to let every man of the Confederate army who claimed to own a horse or mule take the animal to his home. Lee remarked again that this would have a happy effect. He then sat down and wrote out the following letter: [April 9.] . . . I received your letter of this date containing the terms of the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia as proposed by you. As they are substantially the same as those expressed in your letter of the 8th inst., they are accepted. I will proceed to designate the proper officers to carry the stipulations into effect. . . General Lee, after all was completed and before taking his leave, remarked that his army was in a very bad condition for want of food, and that they were without forage; that his men had been living for some days on parched corn exclusively, and that he would have to ask me for rations and forage. I told him "certainly," and asked for how many men he wanted rations. His answer was "about twenty-five thousand:" and I authorized him to send his own commissary and quartermaster to Appomattox Station, two or three miles away, where he could have, out of the trains we had stopped, all the provisions wanted. As for forage, we had ourselves depended almost entirely upon the country for that. . . When news of the surrender first reached our lines our men commenced firing a salute of a hundred guns in honor of the victory. I at once sent word, however, to have it stopped. The Confederates were now our prisoners, and we did not want to exult over their downfall. U. S. Grant, Personal Memoirs (New York, 1886), II, 483–496 passim. 140. "Robbutleeh Layeth down his Arms" ( BY RICHARD GRANT WHITE (1865) This almost rollicking satire sufficiently represents the elation of the North at the end of the war. The characters will be recognized: Sherman, Lee, Grant, Thomas ("Safety"), and Jefferson Davis; as also the places, — Atlanta, Nashville. For White, see No. 74 above. - Bibliography as in No. 139 above. AN -- ND it came to pass that after these things the captain of the Bhum Urs marched westward through the breadth of the land of Dicksee even unto the sea-shore. And the Phiretahs spoke very fierce words against him, and prophesied evil against him, and filled the land with their roarings after their fashion. 2. But the Shear-man heeded not the fierceness of their words or their prophesying or their roarings, and marched onward. And the Phiretahs called upon Robbutleeh to send help unto them, but Ulysses held him fast so that he could not. And the Phiretahs fled from before the Bhum Urs, and the Shear-man cut his way onward through the land. 3. Moreover, about this time, the Phiretah captain whom the Shearman had driven out of Hadal-antah, gathered together a great army and marched against a mighty captain in the armies of Unculpsalm, who was named of his soldiers Saiphtee. 4. (Now this captain came out of Pharjinnee, and was one of the Ephephvees. Yet was he faithful to the land of Unculpsalm.) 5. And Saiphtee marched backward, and drew the Phiretahs after him and away from the army of the Bhum Urs. And when he had drawn them far westward into the land, he went into a little city there; and the Phiretahs sat down before it, and boasted that they would take him captive and put his army to the sword. 6. Then he gathered his army together, and marched out of the city, and fell upon the Phiretahs while their boastings and their cursings were in their mouths: And he discomfited them with great slaughter, and they fled from before him, and he pursued after them many days, and slew them as they fled; and their boasting was turned into wailing and gnashing of teeth, so that the city where Saiphtee fell upon them is called Gnashfill unto this day. 7. And after these things Ulysses saw that his time was come, and that the occasion where for he had waited and watched and toiled for many days had been given unto him. 8. And he marched upon Robbutleeh while his army was yet in the forts and the strong places that he had made. And Ulysses had the victory, and drove Robbutleeh out of his forts and his strong places. 9. And it was the Sabbath day. And Jeph the Repudiator sat in the synagogue which was in the chief city of the Phiretahs; and the chief men of the Phiretahs, Ephephvees, were about him, and as he sat, there came a messenger to him from Robbutleeh, saying, 10. Thy servant is discomfited, but not yet destroyed. Nevertheless he can no longer hold the city. Save thyself, thou and thy household and thy counsellors, and flee, for Ulysses is upon thee. 11. And Jeph went straightway out of the synagogue to his house, and began to gather his gold and his silver and his stuff. And the thing was noised abroad in the city, and there was great commotion. And the Phiretahs fled from that city and from the villages round about, leaving only their women and children. And Jeph fled southward before them, uttering boastings, and making proclamations. 12. And as Jeph was fleeing out of the city, a company of Niggahs, which had joined themselves unto the armies of Unculpsalm entered it from the other side; and as they entered they lifted up their voices with one accord and sang, saying, 13. Tell unto me, Niggahs, and declare unto me, oh ye of woolly locks and dark countenance, have you seen the lord, have you seen the master? 14. Whose beard is upon his face and above his mouth upon his face? 15. Have you seen him pass this way since the dawning, looking like one who goeth hastily into a far country? VER. 13-23. This passage, as all oriental scholars will see, is much older in style than the rest of the book, and has traces of the period of the most ancient Hebrew and Chaldee writers. Although it is a song and is rhythmical, a comparison will show that it belongs rather to the period of the author of the song of Deborah, or even of Lamech, than to that of the more cultivated writers of the time of David and SoloIt was probably an ancient song preserved by tradition among that strange and recordless people, the Niggahs. Yet there has been discovered a coincidence of thought between this song and the following stanza: — mon. 'Say, darkies, have you seen de massa, Wid de muffstash on he face, Go 'long de road some time dis mornin', He took he hat and leff berry sudden, De massa run, ha! ha! De darky stay, ho! ho! It mus' be now de kingdum comin', An' de yar of Jubilo." It cannot be denied that the coincidence noticed does exist to a certain degree. This can only be accounted for upon the plausible and ingenious hypothesis of Dr. Trite, that either the former was written before the latter or the latter before the former. RICHARD GRANT WHITE. |