Volume II Part 56 (1/2)
For an enemy so relentless in the war for our subjugation, we could not be expected to mourn; yet, in view of its political consequences, it could not be regarded otherwise than as a great misfortune to the South. He had power over the Northern people, and was without personal malignity toward the people of the South; his successor was without power in the North, and the embodiment of malignity toward the Southern people, perhaps the more so because he had betrayed and deserted them in the hour of their need. The war had now shrunk into narrow proportions, but the important consideration remained to so conduct it that, if failing to secure our independence, we might obtain a treaty or _quasi_-treaty of peace which would secure to the Southern States their political rights, and to the people thereof immunity from the plunder of their private property.
I found some cavalry at Charlotte, and soon had the satisfaction to increase them to five brigades, They had been on detached service, and were much reduced in numbers. Among the troopers who a.s.sembled there was the remnant of the command which had spread terror north of the Ohio, under the command of their dauntless leader, General John Hunt Morgan. Their present chief, worthy to be the successor of that hero, was General Basil Duke. Among the atrocious, cowardly acts of vindictive malice which marked the conduct of the enemy, none did or could surpa.s.s the brutality with which the dying and dead body of Morgan was treated. Hate, the offspring of fear, they might feel for the valorous soldier while he lived, but even the ign.o.ble pa.s.sion, vengeance, might have been expected to stop when life was extinct.
On April 13, 1865, General Johnston wrote to General Sherman as follows:
”The results of the recent campaign in Virginia have changed the relative military condition of the belligerents. I am therefore induced to address you, in this form, the inquiry whether, to stop the further effusion of blood and the devastation of property, you are willing to make a temporary suspension of active operations; ... the object being to permit the civil authorities to enter into the needful arrangements to terminate the existing war.”
General Sherman replied, on the 14th:
”I am fully empowered to arrange with you any terms for the suspension of hostilities between the armies commanded by you and those commanded by myself, and will be willing to confer with you to that end,” etc., etc.[124]
In the same volume, at page 327, General Sherman describes an interview with Mr. Lincoln, held at City Point on the 27th and 28th of March preceding, in which he says:
”Mr. Lincoln distinctly authorized me to a.s.sure Governor Vance and the people of North Carolina that, as soon as the rebel armies laid down their arms, and resumed their civil pursuits, they would at once be guaranteed all their rights as citizens of a common country; and that, to avoid anarchy, the State governments then in existence, with their civil functionaries, would be recognized by him as the government _de facto_ till Congress could provide others.”
In a letter of D. D. Porter, vice-admiral, written in 1866, giving his recollections of that interview, in the same volume, page 330, is found the following paragraph:
”The conversation between the President and General Sherman, about the terms of surrender to be allowed Joe Johnston, continued. Sherman energetically insisted that he could command his own terms, and that Johnston would have to yield to his demands; but the President was very decided about the matter, and insisted that the surrender of Johnston's army must be obtained on any terms.”
Hence it appears that Sherman was authorized to say that he was fully empowered to arrange for the suspension of hostilities; and, moreover, that he was instructed by Mr. Lincoln to give ”any terms”
to obtain the surrender of Johnston's army.
In regard to the memorandum or basis of agreement, Sherman states, in the same volume, page 353, that, while in consultation with General Johnston, a messenger brought him a parcel of papers from Mr. Reagan, Postmaster-General; that Johnston and Breckinridge looked over them, and handed one of them to him, which he found inadmissible, and proceeds:
”Then, recalling the conversation with Mr. Lincoln at City Point, I sat down at the table and wrote off the terms which I thought concisely expressed his views and wishes.”
But, while these matters were progressing, Mr. Lincoln had been a.s.sa.s.sinated, and a vindictive policy had been subst.i.tuted for his, which avowedly was, to procure a speedy surrender of the army upon any terms. His evident wish was to stop the further shedding of blood; that of his successors, like Sherman's, to extract all which it was possible to obtain. From the memoranda of the interview between Mr. Lincoln and Sherman it is clearly to be inferred that, but for the untimely death of Mr. Lincoln, the agreement between Generals Sherman and Johnston would have been ratified; and the wounds inflicted on civil liberty by the ”reconstruction” measures might not have left their shameful scars on the United States.
General Sherman, in his ”Memoirs,” vol. ii, page 349, referring to a conversation between himself and General Johnston at their first meeting, writes:
”I told him I could not believe that he or General Lee, or the officers of the Confederate army, could possibly be privy to acts of a.s.sa.s.sination, but I would not say as much for Jeff Davis, George Saunders, and men of that stripe.”
On this I have but two remarks to make: First, that I think there were few officers in the Confederate army who would have permitted such a slanderous imputation to be made by a public enemy against the chief executive of their Government; second, that I could not value the good opinion of the man who, in regard to the burning of Columbia, made a false charge against General Wade Hampton, and, having left it to circulate freely for ten years, then in his published memoirs makes this disgraceful admission:
”In my official report of this conflagration, I distinctly charged it to General Wade Hampton, and confess I did so pointedly, to shake the faith of his people in him,” etc.
”Memorandum, or basis of agreement, made this 18th day of April, A.
D. 1865, near Durham Station, and in the State of North Carolina, by and between General Joseph E. Johnston, commanding the Confederate army, and Major-General W. T. Sherman, commanding the army of the United States in North Carolina, both present:
”1. The contending armies now in the field to maintain their _status quo_, until notice is given by the commanding General of either one to its opponents, and reasonable time, say forty-eight hours, allowed.
”2. The Confederate armies now in existence to be disbanded and conducted to the several State capitals, there to deposit their arms and public property in the State a.r.s.enal, and each officer and man to execute and file an agreement to cease from acts of war, and abide the action of both Federal and State authorities. The number of arms and munitions of war to be reported to the chief of ordnance at Was.h.i.+ngton City, subject to future action of the Congress of the United States, and in the mean time to be used solely to maintain peace and order within the borders of the States respectively.
”3. The recognition by the Executive of the United States of the several State governments, on their officers and Legislatures taking the oath prescribed by the Const.i.tution of the United States; and, where conflicting State governments have resulted from the war, the legitimacy of all shall be submitted to the Supreme Court of the United States.
”4. The reestablishment of all Federal courts in the several States, with powers as defined by the Const.i.tution and laws of Congress.
”5. The people and inhabitants of all States to be guaranteed, so far as the Executive can, their political rights and franchises, as well as their rights of person and property, as defined by the Const.i.tution of the United States and of the States respectively.
”6. The Executive authority of the Government of the United States not to disturb any of the people by reason of the late war, so long as they live in peace and quiet, abstain from acts of armed hostility, and obey laws in existence at any place of their residence.