“It was late in the day when it was known that General Lee had sent for General Grant. The surrender took place in the left-hand room of an old house which had a hall-way through it. In that room were a few officers, of whom I was one.
“A short space apart sat two men. The larger and taller of the two was the more striking. His hair was as white as snow. There was not a speck upon his coat; not a spot upon those gauntlets that he wore, which were as bright and fair as a lady’s glove. That was Robert E. Lee. The other was Ulysses S. Grant. His boots were muddy, and he wore no sword.
LEE AND GRANT.
“The words that passed between Lee and Grant were few. General Grant, while the men wrote out the terms of the surrender, said: ‘General Lee, I have no sword; I rode all night.’ And General Lee, with the pride which became him well, made no reply, but in a cold, formal way, bowed.
“Then General Grant, in the attempt to be polite, said: ‘I don’t always wear a sword.’
“Lee only bowed again.
“Some one else then said: ‘General Lee, what became of the white horse you rode in Mexico? He may not be dead yet; he was not so old.’
“General Lee again bowed and said: ‘I left him at the White House, on the Pamunkey river, and I have not seen him since.’
“Then there were a few words, which we could not hear, spoken in a low tone of voice between Grant and Lee.