"And I'll accompany you," Pillow declared.
"Go if you like, gentlemen," Buckner replied. "I'll stand by my men and share their fate."
Floyd and Pillow hastily began their preparations to go.
Buckner quietly asked:
"Am I to consider the command turned over to me?"
"Certainly," Floyd answered. "I turn over the command."
"I pass it, too," Pillow quickly added.
General Buckner called for pen, ink and paper and dispatched a courier immediately to General Grant. The reply was in two words:
"Unconditional surrender."
Pillow crossed the river under cover of the night and made his way into the country.