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- Civil War
- End of a Tragedy: The Road to Appomattox
-
- END OF A TRAGEDY
- THE ROAD TO APPOMATTOX
-
-
- The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the events surrounding the
- end of the American Civil War. This war was a war of epic proportion.
- Never before and not since have so many Americans died in battle. The
- American Civil War was truly tragic in terms of human life. In this
- document, I will speak mainly around those involved on the battlefield in
- the closing days of the conflict. Also, reference will be made to the
- leading men behind the Union and Confederate forces.
- The war was beginning to end by January of 1865. By then, Federal
- (Federal was another name given to the Union Army) armies were spread
- throughout the Confederacy and the Confederate Army had shrunk extremely in
- size. In the year before, the North had lost an enormous amount of lives,
- but had more than enough to lose in comparison to the South. General Grant
- became known as the "Butcher" (Grant, Ulysses S., Personal Memoirs of U.S.
- Grant, New York: Charles L. Webster & Co.,1894) and many wanted to see him
- removed. But Lincoln stood firm with his General, and the war continued.
- This paper will follow the happenings and events between the winter of
- 1864-65 and the surrender of The Confederate States of America. All of
- this will most certainly illustrate that April 9, 1865 was indeed the end
- of a tragedy.
- CUTTING OFF THE SOUTH
- In September of 1864, General William T. Sherman and his army cleared
- the city of Atlanta of its civilian population then rested ever so briefly.
- It was from there that General Sherman and his army began its famous
- "march
- to the sea". The march covered a distance of 400 miles and was 60 miles
- wide on the way. For 32 days no news of him reached the North. He had cut
- himself off from his base of supplies, and his men lived on what ever they
- could get from the country through which they passed. On their route, the
- army destroyed anything and everything that they could not use but was
- presumed usable to the enemy. In view of this destruction, it is
- understandable that Sherman quoted "war is hell" (Sherman, William T.,
- Memoirs of General William T. Sherman. Westport, Conn.:Greenwood Press,
- 1972). Finally, on December 20, Sherman's men reached the city of Savannah
- and from there Sherman telegraphed to President Lincoln: "I beg to present
- you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah, with 150 heavy guns and
- plenty of ammunition, and also about 25,000 bales of cotton" (Sherman,
- William T., Memoirs of General William T. Sherman. Westport,
- Conn.:Greenwood Press, 1972).
- Grant had decided that the only way to win and finish the war would be
- to crunch with numbers. He knew that the Federal forces held more than a
- modest advantage in terms of men and supplies. This in mind, Grant
- directed
- Sherman to turn around now and start heading back toward Virginia. He
- immediately started making preparations to provide assistance to Sherman on
- the journey. General John M. Schofield and his men were to detach from the
- Army of the Cumberland, which had just embarrassingly defeated the
- Confederates at Nashville, and proceed toward North Carolina. His final
- destination was to be Goldsboro, which was roughly half the distance
- between Savannah and Richmond. This is where he and his 20,000 troops
- would meet Sherman and his 50,000 troops.
- Sherman began the move north in mid-January of 1865. The only hope of
- Confederate resistance would be supplied by General P.G.T. Beauregard. He
- was scraping together an army with every resource he could lay his hands
- on, but at best would only be able to muster about 30,000 men. This by
- obvious mathematics would be no challenge to the combined forces of
- Schofield and Sherman, let alone Sherman. Sherman's plan was to march
- through South Carolina all the while confusing the enemy. His men would
- march in two ranks: One would travel northwest to give the impression of a
- press against Augusta and the other would march northeast toward
- Charleston. However the one true objective would be Columbia.
- Sherman's force arrived in Columbia on February 16. The city was
- burned to the ground and great controversy was to arise. The Confederates
- claimed that Sherman's men set the fires "deliberately, systematically, and
- atrociously". However, Sherman claimed that the fires were burning when
- they arrived. The fires had been set to cotton bales by Confederate
- Calvary to prevent the Federal Army from getting them and the high winds
- quickly spread the fire. The controversy would be short lived as no proof
- would ever be presented. So with Columbia, Charleston, and Augusta all
- fallen, Sherman would continue his drive north toward Goldsboro. On the
- way, his progress would be stalled not by the Confederate army but by
- runaway slaves. The slaves were attaching themselves to the Union columns
- and by the time the force entered North Carolina, they numbered in the
- thousands (Barrett, John G., Sherman's March through the Carolinas. Chapel
- Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1956). But Sherman's force
- pushed on and finally met up with Schofield in Goldsboro on March 23rd.
- THE END IS PLANNED
- Sherman immediately left Goldsboro to travel up to City Point and meet
- Grant to discuss plans of attack. When he arrived there, he found not only
- Grant, but also Admiral David Porter waiting to meet with President
- Lincoln. So on the morning of the March 28th, General Grant, General
- Sherman, and Admiral Porter all met with Lincoln on the river boat "River
- Queen" to discuss a strategy against General Lee and General Johnston of
- the Confederate Army. Several times Lincoln asked "can't this last battle
- be avoided?" (Angle and Miers, Tragic Years, II) but both Generals expected
- the Rebels (Rebs or Rebels were a name given to Confederate soldiers) to
- put up at least one more fight. It had to be decided how to handle the
- Rebels in regard to the upcoming surrender (all were sure of a surrender).
- Lincoln
- made his intentions very clear: "I am full of the bloodshed. You need to
- defeat the opposing armies and get the men composing those armies back to
- their homes to work on their farms and in their shops." (Sherman, William
- T., Memoirs of General William T. Sherman. Westport, Conn.:Greenwood Press,
- 1972) The meeting lasted for a number of hours and near its end, Lincoln
- made his orders clear: "Let them once surrender and reach their homes, they
- won't take up arms again. They will at once be guaranteed all their rights
- as citizens of a common country. I want no one punished, treat them
- liberally all around. We want those people to return to their allegiance
- to the Union and submit to the laws." (Porter, David D., Campaigning with
- Grant. New York: The Century Co., 1897) Well with all of the formalities
- outlined, the Generals and Admiral knew what needed to be done. Sherman
- returned to Goldsboro by steamer; Grant and Porter left by train back
- north. Sherman's course would be to continue north with Schofield's men
- and meet Grant in Richmond. However, this would never happen as Lee would
- surrender to Grant before Sherman could ever get there.
- THE PUSH FOR THE END
- General Grant returned back to his troops who were in the process of
- besieging Petersburg and Richmond. These battles had been going on for
- months. On March 24, before the meeting with President Lincoln, Grant drew
- up a new plan for a flanking movement against the Confederates right below
- Petersburg. It would be the first large scale operation to take place this
- year and would begin five days later. Two days after Grant made
- preparations to move again, Lee had already assessed the situation and
- informed President Davis that Richmond and Petersburg were doomed. Lee's
- only chance would be to move his troops out of Richmond and down a
- southwestern path toward a meeting with fellow General Johnston's (Johnston
- had been dispatched to Virginia after being ordered not to resist the
- advance of Sherman's Army) forces. Lee chose a small town to the west
- named Amelia Court House as a meeting point. His escape was narrow; they
- (the soldiers) could see Richmond burn as they made their way across the
- James
- River and to the west. Grant had finally broke through and Richmond and
- Petersburg were finished on the second day of April.
- LINCOLN VISITS FALLEN RICHMOND
- On April 4th, after visiting Petersburg briefly, President Lincoln
- decided to visit the fallen city of Richmond. He arrived by boat with his
- son, Tad, and was led ashore by no more than 12 armed sailors. The city
- had not yet been secured by Federal forces. Lincoln had no more than taken
- his first step when former slaves started forming around him singing
- praises. Lincoln proceeded to join with General Godfrey Weitzel who had
- been place in charge of the occupation of Richmond and taken his
- headquarters in Jefferson Davis' old residence. When he arrived there, he
- and Tad took an extensive tour of the house after discovering Weitzel was
- out and some of the soldiers remarked that Lincoln seemed to have a boyish
- expression as he did so. No one can be sure what Lincoln was thinking as
- he sat in Davis' office. When Weitzel arrived, he asked the President what
- to do with the conquered people. Lincoln replied that he no longer gave
- direction in military manners but went on to say: "If I were in your place,
- I'd let 'em up easy, let 'em up easy" (Johnson, Robert Underwood, and
- Clarence Clough Buel, eds., Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Vol 4.
- New York: The Century Co., 1887).
- THE CHASE BEGINS
- Lee's forces were pushing west toward Amelia and the Federals would be
- hot on their tails. Before leaving Richmond, Lee had asked the Commissary
- Department of the Confederacy to store food in Amelia and the troops
- rushed there in anticipation. What they found when they got there however
- was very disappointing. While there was an abundance of ammunition and
- ordinance, there was not a single morsel of food. Lee could not afford to
- give up his lead over the advancing Federals so he had to move his nearly
- starving troops out immediately in search of food. They continued
- westward, still hoping to join with Johnston eventually, and headed for
- Farmville, where Lee had been informed, there was an abundance of bacon and
- cornmeal. Several skirmishes took place along the way as some Federal
- regiments would catch up and attack, but the Confederate force reached
- Farmville. However, the men had no more that started to eat their bacon
- and cornmeal when Union General Sheridan arrived and started a fight.
- Luckily, it was nearly night, and the Confederate force snuck out under
- cover of the dark. But not before General Lee received General Grants
- first request for surrender.
- NOWHERE TO RUN
- The Confederates, in their rush to leave Farmville in the night of
- April 7th, did not get the rations they so desperately needed, so they were
- forced to forage for food. Many chose to desert and leave for home.
- General Lee saw two men leaving for home and said "Stop young men, and get
- together you are straggling" and one of the soldiers replied "General, we
- are just going over here to get some water" and Lee replied "Strike for
- your home and fireside" (Freeman, Douglas Southall, R.E. Lee: A Biography,
- Vol 3. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1935): they did. Rebel forces
- reached their objective, Appomattox Court House, around 3pm on April 8th.
- Lee received word that to the south, at Appomattox Station, supplies had
- arrived by train and were waiting there. However, the pursuing Union
- forces knew this also and took a faster southern route to the station. By
- 8pm that evening the Federals had taken the supplies and would wait there
- for the evening, preparing to attack the Confederates at Appomattox Court
- House in the morning. Meanwhile, Lee scribbled out a brave response to
- Grant's inquiry simply asking for explanation of the terms to be involved
- in the surrender.
- THE FINAL BATTLE
- At daybreak the Confederate battle line was formed to the west of
- Appomattox. The Union soldiers were in position in front of the line with
- cannons. When the Federal cannons started to fire, the Confederate signal
- for attack was sounded and the troops charged. One soldier later remarked:
- "It was my fortune to witness several charges during the war, but
- never one so magnificently executed as this one." (McCarthy, Carlton,
- Detailed Minutiae of Soldier Life in the Army of Northern Virginia
- 1861-1865. Richmond: Carlton McCarthy, 1882) This Confederate advance only
- lasted from about 7am to 9am, at which time the Rebels were forced back.
- The Confederates could no longer hold their lines and Lee sent word to
- Grant to meet at 1pm to discuss surrender. The two men met at the now
- famous McLean House and a surrender was agreed upon. It was 2pm on April 9,
- 1865. Johnston's army surrendered to General Sherman on April 26 in North
- Carolina; General Taylor of Mississippi-Alabama and General Smith of the
- trans Mississippi-Texas surrendered in May ending the war completely.
-
- SUMMARY
- The Civil War was a completely tragic event. Just think, a war in which
- thousands of Americans died in their home country over nothing more than a
- difference in opinion. Yes, slavery was the cause of the Civil War: half
- of the country thought it was wrong and the other half just couldn't let
- them go. The war was fought overall in probably 10,000 different places
- and the monetary and property loss cannot be calculated. The Union dead
- numbered 360,222 and only 110,000 of them died in battle. Confederate dead
- were estimated at 258,000 including 94,000 who actually died on the field
- of battle. The Civil War was a great waste in terms of human life and
- possible accomplishment and should be considered shameful. Before its
- first centennial, tragedy struck a new country and stained it for eternity.
- It
- will never be forgotten but adversity builds strength and the United States
- of America is now a much stronger nation.
-
-
-
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
- "The Civil War", Groliers Encyclopedia, 1995
- Catton, Bruce., A Stillness at Appomattox. New York: Doubleday, 1963
- Foote, Shelby., The Civil War, Vol. 3. New York: Random, 1974
- Garraty, John Arthur, The American Nation: A History of the United states
- to 1877, Vol. 1, Eighth Edition. New
- York: HarperCollins College Publishers, 1995
- Miers, Earl Schenck, The Last Campaign. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Co.,
- 1972
- Korn, Jerry, Pursuit to Appomattox, The Last Battles. Virginia: Time-Life
- Books, 1987
-
-