Headquarters Army of Northern Virginia,
April 9, 1865.
General: I received you 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 instant, they are accepted. I will proceed immediately to designate the proper officers to carry the stipulations into effect.
R. E. LEE, General.
Lt.-General U. S. Grant.
Let us now return to Battery H, which was moving on the road toward Appomattox. We had proceeded but a few miles when we heard the sound of cannon to our right and left, and we could not rid ourselves of the impression that the end of the continuous fighting of the past seven days was not far off. We knew that Grant had dogged the footsteps of the retreating foe with unrelenting vigor, and that Lee’s chances of escape were still growing less as the Union army pushed on, but we did not anticipate that before the sun had set on this eventful day that the Confederate host would lay down their arms and surrender to the Union forces.
On every side there were manifest indications of the utter demoralization of the rebel troops. Already weakness and fatigue had compelled many of them to throw away the arms which they were no longer able to carry, and hundreds of Confederate soldiers were lying by the roadside completely exhausted. A large number of cannon and ammunition wagons were scattered around in great confusion, as the horses were too weak to haul them, and had been cut loose. The ammunition had been scattered broadcast, the guns spiked, and some were buried in order to render them useless to our army. About eleven o’clock General Grant and staff, bespattered with mud, came galloping along, and passing us, disappeared in the direction of Appomattox. What movement was now on foot we could only conjecture, but of this much we were confident that the silent and modest chieftain who was riding swiftly by had Lee in his power, and would soon bring matters to a crisis.
At ten o’clock our battery and about six thousand infantry, and cavalry of the Sixth Corps were ordered to file off into an open field on our right, and await further orders, and the commanding officers were directed to proceed to headquarters about half a mile away. It was evident that something unusual was about to transpire. We remained in this position until about three o’clock in the afternoon, when Gen. Frank Wheaton, our division commander, accompanied by his staff, came riding swiftly down the road and halted before our battery, and said: “Captain Allen, General Lee has surrendered; get your battery out on yonder hill and fire a salute of one hundred guns.”
Captain Allen turning to his command gave the order: “Battery attention!” He then said: “Boys, General Lee has surrendered. No more fighting. We are going to let you go home. We have orders to fire a salute of one hundred guns.” He then gave the command: “Drivers and cannoneers mount—forward double-quick—march!” No words can describe the effect of such news upon the men of our battery and the soldiers of the infantry near us. The men shouted, threw up their hats, the infantrymen flung down their muskets, hugged each other and rolled over on the ground in excess of joy. The men of our battery were so excited that the captain was compelled to repeat his order three times before it was obeyed.
We were well pleased that to our battery was accorded the honor of firing the first salute to celebrate the glorious victory won by the Union arms. The good news spread rapidly along our lines, and the boys in gray also heard the joyful tidings, and we have no doubt inwardly rejoiced in the thought that the long struggle was ended, and all would be allowed to return to their homes in peace.