The 125th Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry: Attention Batallion!

by Robert M. Rogers

CHAPTER XXXIII.

This memoranda was satisfactory to all present at the conference, as a proposition to be forwarded by special messenger to the President, who called a special meeting of the Cabinet to take it into consideration. The cabinet at once rejected it. This disapproval was communicated to General Sherman by General Grant, who was ordered by the President to proceed immediately to the headquarters of General Sherman, and direct operations against the enemy. The dispatch was received by General Sherman on the morning of the 24th, and he immediately gave notice to General Johnston as follows: "You will take notice that the truce, or suspension of hostilities, agreed to between us on the 18th instant, will close in forty-eight hours after this is received at your lines." He also wrote Gen. Johnston at the same time: "I have replies from Washington to my communication of the 18th. I am instructed to limit my operations to your immediate command, and not attempt civil negotiations, I, therefore, demand the surrender of your army, on the same terms as were given to General Lee, at Appomattox Court House, Va., the 9th of April, instant, purely and simply." Within an hour after the reception of General Grant's dispatch, a courier was riding rapidly with this notice and demand upon General Johnston. Gen. Sherman also issued orders to the army to be in readiness to march at 12 m. of the 26th, on the routs previously described.

These arrangements were already made when General Grant arrived at Raleigh. He informed General Sherman that he had orders from the President to direct all military movements, but that he was so well pleased with the situation, that he concluded not to interfere, and would leave the execution of the arrangements already made, to General Sherman. And now, comrade, whoever you may be, who read these pages, what do you think? This book is not written for any political purpose, not in the least. We are writing about the times that are past and gone; about the days when we marched side by side together through the land of the cotton and the cane. When our glory and our pride was "Uncle Billy," whom we would have followed to the end, wherever that may have been, and you know it. He had been our guiding star in God's hands. Under him we had gone through campaigns only equalled, but never excelled, in the annals of war, and now, on the eve of the consummation of our labors, the "laurel wreath" was to be snatched from his brow, and instead of being permitted to execute the will of the government as determined upon by the administration, he was to see another placed in the position which by right was his. It seemed hardly fair then, and even at this late day, we cannot think it was. We are no politician, we are not learned in the mysteries, the devilments, and the general cussedness of state intrigue, but we say that W. T. Sherman was the grandest man that ever led an army of the United States, or any other country, and he showed his grandeur and his nobility by brushing to one side, as he would the passing wing of a mosquito, the hint of incapacity that was sought to be fastened on him by those grand and mighty warriors, who, in their cushion bottomed chairs at Washington, dared for one instant to insinuate, that it was they who had guided us through the brake, and through the swamps, from the hillsides of Kentucky, to the walls of Richmond, by their orders to our general and our leader. But we knew only Sherman. God bless him, wherever he may be. He is a hero and a nobleman, not by a long line of ancestral descent, perhaps, but by that God given inspiration that makes him so. We believe that our comrades of former days, feel with us an intense loyalty to William Tecumseh Sherman, a true patriot whom the tinsel, and the glare, of worldly intrigues, could not swerve from the path of duty. Excuse us, dear reader, for this little variation, this view that we may have given you to the secret chamber of our heart, we can not help it, we love the man of whom we have been writing, and the honor of having been a soldier under his command, will be one which our children's children, as they come after us, can reflect upon with pride and glory. But we have forgotten, it seems to us, who we are, we have been talking to you about an individual, the most glorious—stop—we will wait until to morrow to go on with our work, we must not forget the humble position we occupy, that of giving to you a record of our lives as an army organization.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

The bearer of General Sherman's message was an unwelcome visitor at the headquarters of Gen. Johnston. Johnston was powerless. He could neither fight nor retreat, his army was deserting him hourly. Already more than ten thousand of his followers had left him, with their guns, horses, mules and wagons. He must either disperse his army or surrender it on the terms proposed by Gen. Sherman on the 25th. He invited Sherman to another conference, with a view to surrender. Gen. Grant being the ranking officer, then present, it was his province to take the lead in the negotiations, but he preferred that the entire business should be consummated by Gen. Sherman. Write it down in letters of gold, that there was one man, at least, at those times, who was a man by nature, and carried a man's heart in his bosom. Thank God! that in our day and generation, we do stumble across men, although farther apart than many mile stones, who are willing to give "the spoils to the victor." Accordingly another interview was arranged to take place at the hour designated for the termination of the truce. Final terms were conducted at this conference, substantially the same as given to Lee, and the second grand army of the cotton aristocracy was surrendered to the United States. The number of men surrendered and paroled was in the neighborhood of 25,000; 108 pieces of artillery were parked, with limbers, caissons, etc., complete; little ammunition was captured. About 15,000 small arms were given up. On the 26th day of April, 1865, the surrender of the last rebel organization was effected, peace brought to the land, and the horrible war, which was conceived in sin and brought forth in iniquity, was over. Fellow soldiers, you who wore the gray, shake hands, you were brave boys, you were brought into this unholy and unrighteous war by men who were so unscrupulous as to the means whereby they attained their ambitious projects, that your heart's blood was but as water in their sight. All honor to your dead, your valor, and your bravery. To your leaders, to the men who by their specious talk and winsome flattery moved you to the struggle, we have nothing to say, leaving to the God of nations and of worlds their record. He in His own good time will settle with every one for the deeds done in the body, whether they be good or whether they be evil.

Well, for us the war was over, and like Othello, "our occupation was gone." By easy marches we at last reached Richmond, the "city of the hills," that like ancient Rome, as thought the hearts of many of her citizens, at the breaking out of the war, "should rule the world." And as we marched through her streets the thought came into our mind why "we are Romans." It was but a momentary thought, that we came as conquerors, and was soon swept from our minds by the idea that we were merely a large body of police. There had been a big riot, the biggest kind of a fuss, and we had come to bring the offenders to justice, and that was the end of it. Brothers and comrades, is that all of it? No! comes up the voice of the century. Do you call the striking of the fetters from off 4,000,000 slaves nothing? Do you call the blotting out of our children's school atlases the "Mason and Dixon's line," which they used to read there and wonder what it meant, nothing? Do you call the establishment of our government and free institutions on a rock as firm as the "Rock of Ages," nothing? Do you call the evidence we have given to the world, that we are a free and enlightened people, nothing? Hold on, let us rest at that a moment. The war did amount to something, didn't it, you old hardtack eater. Shake hands over the trouble and thank God that we are home at last.

We are almost done now, we have come all the way from Danville, Illinois, through Kentucky, with her neutrality; through Tennessee with her splendid water, apple-jack and loyalty in the eastern part, but the middle and western were bad; through Georgia, with her rice, and pea-nuts; through South Carolina, with her sweet-potatoes: through North Carolina, with her tobacco and tar; through Virginia, with her clay hills and murmuring waters, until we have at last arrived at Washington with her red tape and capitol airs, but, all the same, the seat of government of the United States of America, the land of the free and of the oppressed. But we will stop, we hear some one calling to us to pull that eagle in. We obey, as a good soldier always does. After taking part in the grand review at Washington, our regiment "struck tents" for the last time and went to Chicago.

CHAPTER XXXV.

The Saturday after we arrived there, we marched down to Union hall about 11 o'clock in the morning, and took up position in front of the orchestra. After the band of the Veteran Reserve Corps had discoursed some of their sweetest music, we were addressed by T. B. Bryan, Esq., president of the Soldier's Home, and of the executive committee of the great sanitary fair. Mr. Bryan said it was his privilege in the name of the city and the sanitary fair, to welcome us most cordially and sincerely. As he was to be followed by their distinguished commander, there was no need for him to speak of our noble deeds. He wanted us, however, to understand that the men and women of Chicago were equal to those of any other city in earnest and hearty love for the soldier. Whatever disaffected people might say to the contrary, we would find that the women of this city, had toiled as no other women had ever toiled, to sustain and cheer, to comfort and support, the soldier. If regiments had at any time come here unnoticed and unknown, it had been from no fault of theirs. He would now introduce to us our old and tried commander, General Sherman. The announcement was received with great applause, which increased as the General stepped to the front. General Sherman then addressed us as follows:

"Fellow Soldiers: I regret that it has fallen to my task to speak to you, because I would rather that others should do what is most common to them, and less so to me. But, my fellow soldiers, it gives me pleasure to assure you that what the president of this fair has told you just now, is true; that a hearty welcome awaits you wherever you go. Many people think you want bread and meat, but your faces and my knowledge tell me that you prefer the waving of handkerchiefs and the applause of the people, to all the bread and meat that fills the warehouses of Chicago (cheers). Those soldiers who are now before me, know where bread and meat can and will be found (laughter). All we ask, and all we have ever asked, is a silent and generous acknowledgement of our services, when rendered in the cause of our country. And fellow soldiers, when you get home among those who will interest you more than any thing I can say, just call back to mind where you were twelve months ago. You remember Kenesaw Peak, and the Little Kenesaw. It is not a year since you stormed them, and lost my old partner and friend, Dan. McCook. That was on the 27th day of June, 1864. In June, 1865, you stand in the midst of Chicago, surrounded by bright colors and ladies and children. Then you were lying in the mud, the rocks and the dirt, and you knew there was an enemy we had to fight with and conquer, and we did not exactly know how to do it (laughter). But we were patient; we reconnoitered; we watched their flanks; we studied the ground, and in three days we had Johnston and his whole army, pinned; he retired, and we did not give him a chance of stopping until he had put the Chattahoochie between us and him. That is a lesson for you. Temporary defeat is nothing when a man is determined to succeed. You are not conquered, you never can be conquered when the mind is clear and determined in its purpose; you must succeed, no temporary defeat can cause failure. You all remember that on the fourth of July we stood close to each other, and we told them then that they would have to go farther than Atlanta, for we should continue to go on (cheers). You will remember how their pickets told us they had reinforcements. Yes, but what? They had one of our corps—Schofield's (laughter). Before General Johnston knew, or dreamed of it, I had reinforced his side of the Chattahoochie, by Gen. Schofield's 23rd corps. From this, my fellow soldiers, I want you to learn the lesson, no matter where you are, to-day or to-morrow, by keeping a purpose close in your mind, in the end you will succeed, whether it be in military, civil, social, or family affairs. Let no difficulty appal you, let no check alarm you, let your purpose in life be clear and steadfast, keep in view the object and design of your life, and just as sure as you are now before me in health and strength you will succeed. You are now returned to your homes, and the task now allotted to you is that of the future. The past is disposed of, it may soon be forgotten; but the future is before you, and that future will be more glorious than the past. Look at your own state of Illinois, look at the city of Chicago, it is hardly as old as any of you, for twenty-five years ago a little military garrison was here, a two company post, and now it is a city of palaces, of streets, rail roads, etc. You, the men of a city almost the second in the United States of America, are to assist in directing the affairs of this country. You have the patience and industry, and more than that, you have organization, discipline and drill, and if I have been instrumental in teaching you this, in maintaining discipline, order and good government in the army which I have had the honor to command, I am contented; for on this system, and on this high tone of honor which pervades your minds, must be built the empire of America (loud cheers). I did not wish to address you, but I believe there are no others here who desire to speak, and therefore I ask you to accept what is given in heartiness, a full, joyous welcome home to Chicago. I know it is genuine, for I myself have experienced it. Feel you are at home, and that there are no more rebels, no more raking fire, no more shot, but that you have done with them forever. Good morning."