-- An excited Union officer, reporting the advance of Confederate forces at Shiloh.
Southern States Secede
Secession
fever hit the South after Abraham Lincoln was elected president. The
South considered Lincoln's Republican party victory in the 1860
presidential election as a sign that the North was now going to end the
"peculiar institution" of slavery. For the South, the time of talk and
compromise had ended. In December, 1860 South Carolina became the first
state to secede from the Union. Secession of the rest of the states that
would make up the Confederate States of America occurred in two waves.
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Grant Asks Lee to Surrender
April 7, 1865
The life of the Army of Northern Virginia is nearing its end by April 7. The following important events during the Appomattox Campaign have come to pass by this date:
* Amelia Court House
Before midday on April 4, Robert E. Lee arrives at Amelia Court House. Lee’s men are hungry. His army needs rations and provisions, Lee is expecting supplies to be waiting at Amelia Court House. Unfortunately for Lee’s needy men plans did not work out. There are no supplies waiting for the Confederates at Amelia Court House. The failure to obtain supplies is a severe blow to the hopes of the Army of Northern Virginia.
* Sayler’s Creek (also known as Sailor’s Creek)
On April 6, cavalry under Major General Philip Sheridan and corps of infantry under Major General Horatio Wright and General Andrew Humphreys force the surrender of approximately a quarter of Robert E. Lee’s army. The Union victory at Sayler’s Creek is the death knell of the Army of Northern Virginia. Confederate Generals who surrender at Sayler’s Creek are; Richard S. Ewell, Joseph Kershaw, Custis Lee, Dudley DuBose, Eppa Hunton, and Montgomery Corse.
| Barnes&Noble: A Place Called Appomattox |
As General Robert E. Lee saw survivors of Sayler’s Creek walking along a road he said; "My God, has the army dissolved? " On April 7, the following communications were passed between the lines by General Ulysses Grant and General Robert E. Lee. Grant is asking Lee to consider surrender. Lee wants to know what Grant’s terms would be… |
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HEADQUARTERS, ARMIES OF THE U. S. 5 P. M., April 7th, 1865 GENERAL R. E. LEE, Commanding C. S. A.: The results of the last week must convince you of the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia in this struggle. I feel that it is so, and regard it as my duty to shift from myself the responsibility of any further effusion of blood by asking of you the surrender of that portion of the Confederate States army known as the Army of Northern Virginia. U. S. Grant, Lieutenant-General |
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April 7th, 1865 LIEUTENANT-GENERAL U. S. GRANT, Commanding Armies of the U. S. GENERAL: I have received your note of this date. Though not entertaining the opinion you express of the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia, I reciprocate your desire to avoid useless effusion of blood, and therefore, before considering your proposition, ask the terms you will offer on condition of its surrender. R.E. LEE, General |
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Suggested Posts to Learn More...
- Grant and Lee Plan to Meet
- Lee Surrenders to Grant
- General Robert E. Lee’s Farewell Order
- Thirteenth Amendment Abolishes Slavery
- The Sultana Disaster
- Traveller
- Civil War Veterans
- Gettysburg, The Third Day
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