Those of you who celebrate April 9th (when
Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Courthouse) as the end of the Civil War……..are
dead wrong! The war actually ended 147
years ago today when Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered the
Army of Tennessee to Union General William Tecumseh Sherman in Durham, North
Carolina. (Now before all my fellow
historians jump all over me; yes, sporadic fighting continued in small and
isolated pockets into May of 1865; but Johnston’s was the last major
Confederate army in the field and with his surrender (Jefferson Davis was
captured two weeks later), the Confederacy ceased to exist.
Sherman Johnston
After his famous march to the sea, Sherman had turned
north, suborning South Carolina and bringing his army into North Carolina by
early March. When word reached Sherman
that Richmond had been taken, he determined to push North to unite with Grant,
intending to bypass Johnston and the Army of Tennessee. When news of Lee’s surrender at Appomattox
came in early April, Sherman was freed to concentrate his might on
Johnston. Johnston, realizing that Grant
would undoubtedly swing South to aid Sherman, and wishing to spare North
Carolina and Virginia further devastation, asked Sherman for a meeting on April
17th , “the object being to permit the civil authorities to enter
into the needful arrangement to terminate the existing war."
The two men met on the road in front of a farmhouse
that had been chosen for the parley.
They shook hands and exchanged pleasantries. It is believed that at this point, Sherman
informed Johnston of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. The two men then dismounted and went alone
into the farmhouse.
Once inside, Sherman, assuming that Johnston was there
to arrange a military surrender, was prepared to offer terms similar to those
given to Lee by Grant. Johnston,
however, proposed a broader peace settlement that included political elements
that would preserve the rights of the South, offering the surrender of all
remaining Confederate armies in return.
Both men agreed to consult with their staffs and return the next
morning.
The next morning a broad military/political settlement
was initially agreed upon. It included
the surrender of all Confederate armies, the re-establishment of state governments
after an oath of allegiance to the Union, southern people were to be restored
to their full rights and property, and there was also a promise of amnesty for
Confederate officials. Both generals
reported the terms to their respective governments, and while Jefferson Davis
approved the terms, Union Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton (who was running
things in the wake of Lincoln’s death) rejected the terms. It looked like hostilities would resume and
General Grant was sent to North Carolina.
But Johnston, realizing the futility of further resistance, agreed to a
simple military surrender on April 26th.
After the war, Sherman stayed in the army and went West
to fight Indians. There were repeated
attempts over the years to get him to run for president (as his friend, Grant
had done). Sherman rejected them all,
issuing what for decades was known in politics as a “General Sherman Statement”
(“If nominated, I will not run. If
elected, I will not serve.”)
Joseph E. Johnston worked in railroads and insurance
after the war. In 1878, he was elected
to the House of Representatives from Virginia.
He served one term. He also
served as President Grover Cleveland’s Commissioner of Railroads. Johnston’s end was tied up with his old
opponent, Sherman. When Sherman died,
Johnston went to New York to serve as a pallbearer at his funeral, which was
held on a cold and wet February morning.
When a friend of Johnston’s, concerned about the old general’s health
and age, urged him to put his hat on, Johnston is said to have replied, “If I
were in his (Sherman’s) place, and he were standing in mine, he would not put
on his hat.” Johnston caught a severe
cold that morning, which developed into pneumonia, killing him one month later.
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