Intelligence of the surrender was quickly transmitted to head-quarters, and no pen can portray the effect upon the men as the glorious news spread from camp to camp like a conflagration. Men who in the stern hour of battle had been unmoved and undaunted; in gloom and disaster cheerful and hopeful; in hunger, privation, weariness, and sickness calm and unruffled,—now shouted and wept in turns like children, and gave expression to their feelings in yells of delight. The goal had at length been won; the trials and hardships and sufferings of weary years had culminated in victory. Some of the men of our regiment, on duty at the church, entered it for the purpose of ringing the bell, but could find no bell-rope. Not to be baffled in his purpose, Michael Sullivan, of Company F, climbed up through a scuttle-hole over the gallery, and found a ladder under the seats, by which he ascended into the belfry. There remained about six inches of rope attached to the tongue of the bell, which he seized and struck with all his force, his head meanwhile being inside the bell. He rang the bell as long as his strength would permit, and its joyful peal was heard with astonishment by the town's people, and great delight by the troops. At night bonfires were blazing everywhere, and a long time elapsed before quiet was restored.
The next day the remainder of the brigade moved to Farmville, and encamped south-west of the town. General Curtin was assigned to duty as post commander. Division and corps head-quarters remained at Burkesville. Lieutenant-Colonel Barker, as provost-marshal, established his head-quarters in a large building formerly used as a store, situated on the main street, in the central part of the town. The regiment was quartered in the town, and furnished safeguards of from one to five men to protect the property of the citizens in various places in the surrounding country. Guard duty in the town was also performed by the regiment. The duty was arduous and wearisome, as it included not only the regular guard duty, but the labor of issuing rations to the impoverished citizens, who poured into the town from all directions for food. A careful record was preserved of all to whom relief was afforded, with the quantity of rations issued to each, involving a vast amount of clerical labor. In addition to this duty paroles were made out for all the Confederate prisoners found in the place, and for hundreds of others who came to the village from Appomattox Court-House. During the stay of the regiment at this place the following number of Confederate soldiers were paroled by the provost-marshal:—
| Officers and men in the General Hospital | 582 |
| Officers in the Institute | 22 |
| Detailed Hospital Attendants | 34 |
| Hospital Stewards | 4 |
| From the field of Appomattox | 1,742 |
| Total | 2,384 |
On Saturday, April 15th, Captain Henry S. Burrage, who had been absent since November 1st, when he was captured in front of Petersburg, returned to the regiment, and on the following day he was appointed Acting Assistant Adjutant-General on General Curtin's staff. Late in the afternoon of that day a telegram was received from Washington, announcing the assassination of President Lincoln. At first this information was regarded as a hoax or a camp rumor; but all doubt was soon banished, and the sad intelligence was confirmed in the formal announcement of his death by General Meade.
The sad intelligence cast a shadow of gloom over the entire nation; but nowhere was the sorrow more profound than among the soldiers of the army of the Potomac. The closing days of that wonderful life had been spent in its camps, and within sound of some of its last terrible battles. The heart almost crushed by the burden of responsibility and care, borne throughout the long years of war, had been lightened and cheered by its glorious victories, and the men were bound to him by ties of admiration and affection. The general sorrow which pervaded the army was shared by the citizens of Virginia. They felt that the South had lost its best friend, and while they appreciated and applauded the magnanimity of General Grant, now that the war was virtually ended, they relied upon the warm heart of the President to inaugurate measures for reconstruction which should unite the hearts of the people of the North and the South. Nowhere was this feeling more general than among the people of Farmville. As soon as the death of the President was formally announced the Mayor, in accordance with the generally expressed wish of the citizens, convened the Common Council, and the following official action was taken:—
Town Hall, Farmville, Va., April 18th, 1865.
A called meeting of the Common Council of Farmville was held this day at Town Hall.
The object of the meeting being explained, and an official communication from General Curtin, commanding this post, having been read, announcing the death by assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, and the orders of the General commanding this department as to the proper observance of the day of the funeral obsequies of the late President, the following action was taken:—
Resolved, That the Common Council of the Town of Farmville have heard with profound regret the tragic fate of the late President of the United States; that we regard the event as a great national calamity, particularly and especially to the South; and while we deplore the country's loss, we at the same time feel the warmest sympathy for the family whose head has been so suddenly and ruthlessly hurried into eternity.
Resolved, That we cordially approve and will conform to the order of the Commanding General in the proper observance of the day of the burial of the late President, and recommend to the citizens suspension of all business operations, and unite in the common hope that this afflictive dispensation of Providence may not impede the restoration of peace and happiness to our country.