Nostalgia USA September 2016 Civil War Edition Civil War Annual Editon 2016 | Page 19

And the W ar Ends ? by D avid J. Kent

O n A pr il 9, 1865, just four weeks after President A braham L incoln had t aken his
second oath of office, Confederate General Rober t E. L ee officially sur rendered his
ar m y to Union General U lysses S. Grant. So began the end of the Civil War. T hey
m et at the house of W ilm er M cL ean in a village called A ppom attox Cour t H ouse.
T he tr ials of four years of war etched the faces of both Generals as their weary troops
str uggled bet ween thankfulness that the war was ending and patr iotism for the
causes they felt were still att ainable.
I n the days before the sur render, Grant and L ee had exchanged a ser ies of m essages
through the front lines. Both m en were cautious, avoiding com m itm ents that they
could not keep. N ot surpr isingly, L ee was hesit ant to sur render the A r m y of
N or ther n V irginia to the Union forces. But he was a realist. A fter the defeat at
Petersburg, L ee had on A pr il 2nd war ned Confederate President Jefferson D avis that
R ichm ond could no longer be protected. A s D avis and the Confederate gover nm ent
fled southw ard, L ee knew that his ar m ies could no longer hold off the inevit able.
T he South would fall in defeat.
T he ter m s of the sur render were sim ple. A ll Confederate forces were to be
disbanded and allowed to retur n to their hom es, "not to be disturbed by the United
St ates author ities so long as they obser ve their paroles." W hile "ar m s, ar tillery, and
public proper t y" were to be confiscated, officers were allowed to keep their
side- ar m s (swords and pistols), pr ivate horses and baggage.
A s General L ee m ounted his horse to r ide away from the M cL ean house, "General
Grant now stepped dow n from the porch, and, m oving tow ard him , saluted him by
raising his hat. H e was followed in this act of cour tesy by all our officers present; L ee
raised his hat respectfully, and rode off to break the sad new s to the brave fellow s
w hom he had so long com m anded."
T he w ar would rapidly com e to an end. But just as rapidly, President L incoln would
be assassinated. Shot by John W ilkes Booth on A pr il 14, 1865, Good Fr iday, w hile
watching the com edic play, O ur American Cousin in Ford's T heatre. H e was car r ied
across the street to the Petersen H ouse w here he died the next m or ning, A pr il 15, at
7:22 am . "N ow he belongs to the ages," spoke Secret ary of War Edw in St anton,
before engaging in a 12- day chase that ended w ith the death of the assassin.
Soon after L incoln's dem ise, long- tim e adm irer Walt W hitm an w rote an extended
m et aphor poem , "O Capt ain! M y Capt ain!" W hitm an lived in Washington dur ing
the Civil War and often watched President L incoln r ide by on horseback, later by
car r iage, to and from his sum m er living quar ters in the Soldier's H om e. I t begins:
O Captain! M y Captain! our fearful trip is done;
T he ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won;
T he port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
W hile follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring: But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
W here on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
Such a sad, yet exalting, eulogy for the fallen President. I t has now been 151 years
since that fateful day and battles still rem ain in our desire to for m "a m ore per fect
union." A s L incoln noted in his Gett ysburg A ddress: "I t is for us the living? to be
dedicated here to the unfinished work? " that L incoln "so nobly advanced."