April 7, another despatch was read, announcing that General Sheridan had captured twelve thousand prisoners and fifty pieces of artillery. On the 10th, two divisions of the 10th corps, which had again been reunited under General Terry, started on the march towards Raleigh. On the 11th, the march was continued rapidly, our brigade being in the advance. Frequent halts were necessary, on account of the destruction of the bridges by Johnston's army. On the 12th, while resting and waiting for a wagon-train, for which they were to be escort, a despatch was read from General Schofield announcing the surrender of General Lee. This had been known by other portions of the army, which had passed on from other points, and had already driven Johnston's army out of Smithfield.
M'LEAN'S HOUSE, THE PLACE OF LEE'S SURRENDER.
The forward movement was resumed by our brigade on the afternoon of the 12th, but the roads continued very heavy, and the men were often compelled to wade through swamps, and at night slept on the ground with scarcely more than the sky for a covering. On the evening of the 14th, they arrived in the vicinity of Raleigh, and established camp a short distance outside the city. The Confederate army had made no stop here, and General Sherman continued the pursuit some twenty or twenty-five miles, to a point called Durham Station, when, the hopelessness of further resistance being apparent, a request was sent to General Sherman by Johnston, asking for a truce, with a view to arranging the terms of surrender of his army. This occurred on the 15th, and as the fact became generally known on the 16th, that night was given up to rejoicing, for it was felt that the war was now over. This, however, proved premature, for the terms proposed, and which were evidently dictated by Davis and other leaders of the rebellion, who were known to be in the vicinity, although accepted by General Sherman, when submitted to the authorities at Washington, were unhesitatingly repudiated as dealing with questions which were beyond the province of military commanders; and orders were issued to resume operations at once. General Grant was despatched to Raleigh, where he arrived on the 24th, and notice was sent to Johnston demanding an immediate surrender, on the same terms given to General Lee. The troops were put in motion, and preparations were made to reopen the campaign; and it is safe to say that no order was ever issued to our troops which was received with such universal satisfaction as that to prepare to march against Johnston. News had been received of the assassination of President Lincoln, and, had our troops encountered Johnston's army, no quarter would have been given, so terribly were they exasperated. But, fortunately for Johnston and those under him, wise counsels prevailed in his camp, and on the 26th his whole army was surrendered, and the war was virtually over.
A general review. Change in condition of the regiment. Barrett as provost-marshal. Delicate question. Colonel Coan. Gradual disbandment of the army. Discharge of the 48th. Some personal explanations.
Little remains to chronicle in the history of the 48th. On the 20th of April, during the truce between the two armies, a general review was held in Raleigh by General Sherman. The 10th corps presented no such appearance as when it marched in review at Hilton Head. Few of the old officers and soldiers were left, and the experiences of the past year had been such as to preclude the possibility of keeping up that almost perfect condition and discipline for which we were so long noted. Our regiment had changed so much that it bore its share of the censure contained in general orders issued a few nights after the review. But sufficient allowance was not made for the peculiar hardships and exposures of the recent campaign, nor for the addition of so many new recruits, at a time when no opportunity was afforded for their proper training and drill. The work of all the troops was done and well done, and no censure should have mingled with the approval they so richly deserved.