General Orders, No. 9.—After four years of arduous service, marked by unsurpassed courage and fortitude, the Army of Northern Virginia has been compelled to yield to overwhelming numbers.
I need not tell the brave survivors of so many hard fought battlefields, who have remained steadfast to the last, that I have consented to this result from no distrust of them, but feeling that valor and devotion could accomplish nothing to compensate for the loss that must have attended a continuation of the contest, I determined to avoid the useless sacrifice of those whose past services have endeared them to their countrymen.
By the terms of agreement, officers and men can return to their homes and remain until exchanged. You will take with you the satisfaction that proceeds from the consciousness of duty faithfully performed, and I earnestly pray that a merciful God will extend to you his blessing and protection. With an unceasing admiration of your constancy and devotion to your country, and a grateful remembrance of your kind and generous consideration of myself, I bid you all an affectionate farewell.
R. E. Lee, General.
[44] The assassination of Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by J. Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865.
[45] See Council proceedings, April 27, 1865.
[46] This amount was ascertained by Mr. St. George R. Fitzhugh, after a thorough examination of the indebtedness of the town at the close of the war, about 1895, which was published in the town papers and also in circulars and distributed.
[47] Attorney-General and Secretary of the Treasury in Washington’s Cabinet.
[48] President James Monroe.
[49] Afterwards one of the Judges of the Supreme Court.