Pictorial history of the war for the Union, volume 2 (of 2)

by Ann S. Stephens

THE CLOSE OF SHERMAN’S CAMPAIGN. SURRENDER OF GENERAL JOHNSTON.

In the latter part of March and the first days of April, 1865, the rebel army under General J. E. Johnston was encamped in the neighborhood of Smithfield, North Carolina, and was protecting Raleigh. General Sherman’s forces were at Goldsboro’, and in that vicinity. On the 6th of April the news of the Virginia victories reached General Sherman. Four days later, on the 10th inst., at daybreak, his army commenced its final advance against the enemy. Major-General H. W. Slocum took the two direct roads for Smithfield; Major-General O. O. Howard made a circuit by the right, and feigned up the Weldon road, to disconcert the enemy’s cavalry; Generals Terry and Kilpatrick moved on the west side of the Neuse river, and aimed to reach the rear of the enemy between Smithfield and Raleigh. General Schofield followed General Slocum, in support. All the columns met, within six miles of Goldsboro’, more or less cavalry, with the usual rail barricades, which were swept away as chaff; and by 10 A. M. of the 11th, the Fourteenth corps entered Smithfield, the Twentieth corps close at hand. Johnston had rapidly retreated across the Neuse river, and, having his railroad to lighten up his trains, could retreat faster than the National forces could pursue. The rains had also set in, making the resort to corduroy absolutely necessary to pass even ambulances. The enemy had burned the bridge at Smithfield, but, as soon as possible, Major-General Slocum got up his pontoons, and crossed over a division of the Fourteenth corps. News of the surrender of Lee’s army, at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, was here received, and was announced to the armies in orders, creating universal joy. “Not an officer or soldier of my armies,” says General Sherman, “but expressed a pride and satisfaction that it fell to the lot of the armies of the Potomac and James so gloriously to overwhelm and capture the entire army that had held them so long in check; and their success gave us new impulse to finish up our task.”

Marching still onward in rapid pursuit, General Sherman’s soldiers passed through Raleigh, on the 13th. Johnston was at Greensboro’, and his army was retreating from Hillsboro’, on all the roads leading to the former point.

Such was the position of affairs, when General Sherman received the first communication from his adversary, in reference to terms of capitulation. At noon, on the 17th, the two commanders met.

Says General Sherman: “Our interview was frank and soldier-like, and he gave me to understand that further war on the part of the Confederate troops was folly; that the ‘cause’ was lost, and that every life sacrificed after the surrender of Lee’s army was the highest possible crime. He admitted that the terms conceded to General Lee were magnanimous, and all he could ask; but he did want some general concessions that would enable him to allay the natural fears and anxieties of his followers, and enable him to maintain his control over them until they could be got back to the neighborhood of their homes, thereby saving the State of North Carolina the devastation which would result from turning his men loose and unprovided on the spot, and our pursuit across the State.

“He also wanted to embrace in the same general proposition the fate of all the Confederate armies that remained in existence. I never made any concession as to his own army, or assumed to deal finally and authoritatively in regard to any other; but it did seem to me that there was presented a chance for peace that might be deemed valuable to the government of the United States, and was at least worth the few days that would be consumed in reference. To push an enemy whose commander had so frankly and honestly confessed his inability to cope with me, were cowardly, and unworthy the brave men I led.”

On the 18th, the two Generals again met, and agreed upon a basis of terms for capitulation of the rebel army, to be referred to the President of the United States; and, in the mean time, a truce was declared between the belligerents. General Sherman improved the delay by rushing on the work on the railroad to Raleigh, and thus strengthening himself for battle—if battle should come. On the 23d, General Sherman learned that the government—President Lincoln being dead—disapproved of his basis for Johnston’s capitulation, and ordered the truce to end. He immediately notified his opponent, to that effect, and that the truce would end at noon on the 26th. On the night of the 25th, General Sherman received a letter from General Johnston, asking for another interview. By this time General Grant had arrived at Raleigh, and was in communication with General Sherman. The interview was granted; and, on the 26th of April, at 2 o’clock, Generals Sherman and Johnston met, and signed the articles of capitulation, by which the latter surrendered his whole army to the former.

General Sherman’s conduct, at this stage of the war, has been made the subject of adverse criticism by official persons of high station. These pages, however, have not space enough for the details of this controversy. Yet it should be said, in justice to one of the greatest warriors of history, that, throughout all his negotiations, and down to the close of his connection with the war, General Sherman’s conduct was that of a patriot, a soldier, and a gentleman. The terms finally allowed to General Johnston were the same that had previously been allowed to General Lee.

The following is General Sherman’s farewell address to his army:—

“Headquarters Military Division of the Mississippi, }

“In the Field, Washington, D. C., May 30, 1865. }

“The general commanding announces to the Armies of the Tennessee and Georgia that the time has come for us to part. Our work is done, and armed enemies no longer defy us. Some of you will be retained in service until further orders. And now that we are about to separate, to mingle with the civil world, it becomes a pleasing duty to recall to mind the situation of National affairs when, but a little more than a year ago, we were gathered about the twining cliffs of Lookout Mountain, and all the future was wrapped in doubt and uncertainty. Three armies had come together from distant fields, with separate histories, yet bound by one common cause—the union of our country and the perpetuation of the government of our inheritance. There is no need to recall to your memories Tunnel Hill, with its Rocky Face Mountain, and Buzzard Roost Gap, with the ugly forts of Dalton behind. We were in earnest, and paused not for danger and difficulty, but dashed through Snake Creek Gap, and fell on Resaca, then on to the Etowah, to Dallas, Kenesaw; and the heats of summer found us on the banks of the Chattahoochie, far from home and dependent on a single road for supplies. Again we were not to be held back by any obstacle, and crossed over and fought four heavy battles for the possession of the citadel of Atlanta. That was the crisis of our history. A doubt still clouded our future; but we solved the problem, and destroyed Atlanta, struck boldly across the State of Georgia, secured all the main arteries of life to our enemy, and Christmas found us at Savannah. Waiting there only long enough to fill our wagons, we again began a march, which for peril, labor, and results, will compare with any ever made by an organized army. The floods of the Savannah, the swamps of the Combahee and Edisto, the high hills and rocks of the Santee, the flat quagmires of the Pedee and Cape Fear rivers, were all passed in midwinter, with its floods and rains, in the face of an accumulating enemy; and, after the battles of Averasboro’ and Bentonville, we once more came out of the wilderness to meet our friends at Goldsboro’. Even then we paused only long enough to get new clothing, to reload our wagons, and again pushed on to Raleigh, and beyond, until we met our enemy, sueing for peace instead of war, and offering to submit to the injured laws of his and our country. As long as that enemy was defiant, nor mountains, nor rivers, nor swamps, nor hunger, nor cold had checked us; but when he who had fought us hard and persistently offered submission, your general thought it wrong to pursue him further, and negotiations followed which resulted, as you all know, in his surrender. How far the operations of the army have contributed to the overthrow of the Confederacy, of the peace which now dawns on us, must be judged by others, not by us. But that you have done all that men could do has been admitted by those in authority; and we have a right to join in the universal joy that fills our land because the war is over, and our government stands vindicated before the world by the joint action of the volunteer armies of the United States.

“To such as remain in the military service, your general need only remind you that successes in the past are due to hard work and discipline, and that the same work and discipline are equally important in the future. To such as go home, he will only say, that our favored country is so grand, so extensive, so diversified in climate, soil, and productions, that every man may surely find a home and occupation suited to his taste; and none should yield to the natural impotence sure to result from our past life of excitement and adventure. You will be invited to seek new adventure abroad; but do not yield to the temptation, for it will lead only to death and disappointment.

“Your general now bids you all farewell, with the full belief that, as in war you have been good soldiers, so in peace you will make good citizens; and if, unfortunately, new war should arise in our country, Sherman’s army will be the first to buckle on the old armor and come forth to defend and maintain the government of our inheritance and choice.

“By order of

“Major-General W. T. SHERMAN.

“L. M. Dayton, Assistant Adjutant-General.”