The two corps advanced in splendid style, and just as composedly as though marching at review or on parade, drums beating and colors flying, presenting such an imposing spectacle as has seldom been witnessed in the present war. In fact, some of the oldest and most experienced staff officers present declared they had never before witnessed so truly grand a spectacle.
What the Historians Say
The battle at Opequon, known also as Third Winchester, occurred in Frederick County, Virginia, on September 19, 1864. It was the fifth major battle in Sheridan’s Shenandoah Valley Campaign, which occurred during the months ranging from August through December, 1864.
The principal commanders were Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan leading 39,240 Union troops pitted against Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early’s 15,200 Confederates. The estimated casualties were 5,020 and 3,610 respectively.
After Kershaw’s division left Winchester to rejoin Lee’s army at Petersburg, Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early renewed his raids on the B&O Railroad at Martinsburg, badly dispersing his four remaining infantry divisions. On September 19, Sheridan advanced toward Winchester along the Berryville Pike with the VI and XIX Corps, crossing Opequon Creek.
The Union advance was delayed long enough for Early to concentrate his forces to meet the main assault, which continued for several hours. Casualties were very heavy. The Confederate line was gradually driven back toward the town. Mid-afternoon, Crook’s (VIII) Corps and the cavalry turned the Confederate left flank. Early ordered a general retreat.
Confederate generals Rodes and Goodwin were killed, Fitzhugh Lee, Terry, Johnson, and Wharton wounded. Union general Russell was killed, McIntosh, Upton, and Chapman wounded. Because of its size, intensity, and result, many historians consider this the most important conflict of the Shenandoah Valley that resulted in important Union victory.
17
A Casualty of War
Proud to the End The Charleston Mercury Ceases Publication
AUTHOR’S COMMENTARY
On February 11, 1865, Union troops closed in on Charleston, South Carolina. It was the five hundred and seventy ninth day of the Federal siege at Charleston Harbor. And it would be the last day a Charleston Mercury would be issued during the Civil War. Blue uniformed troops had landed on nearby James Island. More would arrive at any moment. The Rhetts, not wishing to suffer the indignity of being shuttered by occupying forces, elected to leave Charleston and departed for the State capital at Columbia. But the invading Union troops would soon be at Columbia too, and the resultant fire that swept Columbia destroyed the presses of the Mercury. It struggled to rise from its ashes in the post war year of 1866, and did so for a short while. But due to financial instability, the Charleston Mercury eventually succumbed to the financial malaise that gripped much of the post-war South.
Feb, 11, 1865: The Charleston Mercury
Siege Matters – Five Hundred and Seventy Ninth Day A force of the enemy, believed to be between three and four thousand strong, under cover of their gunboats, made a landing at Grimballplace, on James Island, about 8 o yesterday morning. A brisk fight ensued with our pickets, the latter being finally driven in to our first line of works. Major MANIGAULT is reported to have been killed in the skirmishing, but some doubt is expressed as to the correctness of the report.
The enemy, at last accounts, were drawn up in line of battle and advancing slowly, but no general fight had taken place.
Active demonstrations have also been made along our lines on the Salkehatchie. In an attack there yesterday morning, the enemy were easily repulsed. Another force advanced upon the Charleston road, near Blue House, and opened with artillery, but made no impression on our lines. Everything was quiet at Combahee Ferry.
Spirit of the Army
Headq’rs 1st Regiment S.C.V.
McGowan’s Brigade
Trenches near Petersburg, Va., Feb. 3, 1865
To the Editor of the Mercury: At a meeting held at the camp of the 1st Regiment S. C. Volunteers, McGOWAN’S Brigade, the following resolutions were submitted and unanimously adopted. Will you be kind enough to publish them in your paper.
Resolutions
The soldiers and officers of the 1st Regiment S. C. V., McGowanBrigade, do resolve:
1. That the war in which we are engaged is a war of self defence; that in the beginning, nearly four years ago, we took up arms in the defence of the right to govern ourselves and to protect our country from invasion, our homes from desolation, and our wives and children from insult and outrage.
ROBERT BARNWELL RHETT, THE GUIDING FORCE FOR SECESSION AND OWNER OF THE CHARLESTON MERCURY, AS HE LOOKED IN 1861 (FRANK LESLIE’S ILLUSTRATED NEWSPAPER). LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.
2. That the reasons which induced us to take up arms at the beginning have not been impaired, but on the contrary infinitely strengthened by the progress of the war – outrage and cruelty have not made us love the perpetrators. If we then judge that the enemy intended to impoverish and oppress us, we now know that they propose to subjugate, enslave, disgrace and destroy us.
3. As we were actuated by principle when we entered the service of the Confederate States, we are of the same opinion still. We have had our share of victories, and we must expect some defeats; our cause is righteous and must prevail. In the language of General Greene, during the darkest hours of the Revolution, when he was struggling to recover South Carolina, then entirely overrun and suffering under the scourge of Tarleton: ‘Independence is certain, if the people have the fortitude to bear and the courage to persevere.’
4. To submit to our enemies now, would be more infamous than it would have been in the beginning. It would be cowardly, yielding to power what was denied upon principle. It would be to yield the cherished right of self government and to acknowledge ourselves wrong in the assertion of it; to brand the names of our slaughtered companions; to forfeit the glory already won; to lose the fruits of all the sacrifices made and the privations endured; to give up independence, now nearly gained, and bring certain ruin, disgrace and eternal slavery upon our country.
Therefore, unsubdued by past reverses, and unawed by future dangers, we declare our determination to battle to the end, and not to lay down our arms until our independence is secured. Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery. Forbid it Heaven!
C. W. McCREARY, Colonel 1st Regt., S. C. V.
CHARLES J. C. HUTSON, 1st Lieut. and Adjutant.
Charleston Courier and Columbia papers please copy.
Telegraphic War Spirit in Virginia
RICHMOND, February 9 – A great war meeting was held at the African Church today. The building was crowded an hour before the time fixed for the meeting, and thousands wereunable to gain admittance. The assemblage was addressed in stirring speeches by Senator HUNTER, Mr. SHEFFRY, Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, Secretary BENJAMIN, and Mr. Gillies, of North Carolina; and then adjourned until seven o.
An impromptu meeting was held at 2 o in the Hall of the House of Delegates, and was addressed by Messrs. GOODE, FUNSTEN and BALDWIN, of the Virginia delegation in Congress.
The deportment of the people indicated a full acceptance of the continuance of the war forced upon them by the refusal of LINCOLN to negotiate for peace.
The following resolutions were admitted by Mr. SHEFFRY, and heartily applauded:
Resolved, that the events which have occurred during the progress of the war have but confirmed our original determination, to strike for our independence; and that, with the blessing of God, we will never lay down our arms, until it shall have been won.
GREAT MASS MEETING TO ENDORSE CALL OF THE LEGISLATURE OF SOUTH CAROLINA FOR A STATE CONVENTION OF DISCUSS THE QUESTION OF SECESSION FROM THE UNION, HELD AT INSTITUTE HALL (LATER TO BE CALLED SECESSION HALL), CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA, ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1860 (FRANK LESLIE’S ILLUSTRATED NEWSPAPER) LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.
Secondly, that, as we believe our resources sufficient for the purpose, we do not doubt but that we shall condu
ct the war successfully, and to that issue we devote ourselves, and we hopefully invoke our people, in the name of the holiest of all causes, to spare neither blood nor treasure in its maintenance and support.
Thirdly, that we tender our thanks to our soldiers in the field for their noble efforts on behalf of the country, its right and its liberties; and take this occasion to assure them that no effort of ours shall be spared, to assist them in maintaining the great cause, to which we freely devote ourselves and our all.
To Our Readers
The progress of military events, which has occasioned so much public and private inconvenience and suffering, has not spared the newspaper interest. The interruption of railroad communication between Charleston and the interior produces a state of affairs which compels us, temporarily, to transfer the publication office of the MERCURY elsewhere; and today’s paper will be our last issue, for the present, in the city of Charleston. It is due to our readers that they should be informed of the reasons which necessitate so important a step in the management of our journal. The interruption of the mails on the South Carolina Railroad practically cuts us off from the mass of our country readers, not only in this but all the adjoining States. We consider it highly desirable that the paper should reach this large class; and by the contemplated change we trust to accomplish that end. But a far more important consideration, and one which cannot be overlooked, is the question of our paper supply. Few of our readers have any idea of the enormous quantity of paper required for the daily consumption of our establishment. The paper mill upon which we depend for our supply is situated in Western North Carolina, and as things stand, for want of transportation, there is no chance of a continuance of that supply. So that we have the alternatives presented to us of being obliged to discontinue THE MERCURY, for want of the material upon which to print it, or of removing, for a time, our publication office to another more convenient point. Justice to our subscribers, no less than our own preference, impels us to the latter course.
For a few days, therefore, the issue of THE MERCURY will be suspended; but soon, we trust, it will revisit all our readers.
18
Appomattox Court House
Grant and Lee Bring a Merciful End to the Civil War
AUTHOR’S COMMENTARY
Journalists, often the cause of great annoyance to general officers on both sides of the War, were coming to the end of their great education. Writing of the exploits of The Army of Northern Virginia and The Army of the Potomac had provided journalists, North and South, with opportunities to develop a rough-hewn craft into a craft many still thought was slightly less than rough. There was still room for improvement. Robert E. Lee thought there was a great deal of room.
After Appomattox and the end of the Civil War, Lee was offered, and accepted, the presidency of Washington College, now Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. Lee felt that improvement for an aspiring journalist lay in receiving a classical education. Under Lee’s direction, Washington College offered scholarships to those wishing to pursue newspaper work as a career. Those receiving scholarships also would work with local printers.
Lee organized committees to coordinate a classical education program in journalism and made the scholarship program known through advertising. After his death in 1870, however, the program was discontinued without explanation. Speculation has it that Washington College abruptly dropped the program due to criticism from the press.
April 10, 1865: From The New York Times
UNION VICTORY!
PEACE!
SURRENDER OF GENERAL LEE AND HIS WHOLE ARMY THE WORK OF PALM SUNDAY
Final Triumph of the Army of the Potomac.
The Strategy and Diplomacy of Lieut. Gen. Grant.
Terms and Conditions of the Surrender.
The Rebel Arms, Artillery, and Public Property Surrendered. Rebel Officers Retain Their Side Arms, and Private Property. Officers and Men Paroled and Allowed to Return to Their Homes.
The Correspondence Between Grant and Lee.
OFFICIAL.
WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, APRIL 9, 1865 § 9 O’CLOCK P.M.
To Maj. Gen. Dix:
This department has received the official report of the SURRENDER, THIS DAY, OF GEN. LEE AND HIS ARMY TO LIEUT. GEN. GRANT, on the terms proposed by Gen. GRANT.
Details will be given as speedily as possible.
EDWIN M. STANTON, SECRETARY OF WAR.
HEADQUARTERS ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATES
4:30 P.M., APRIL 9
Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War:
GEN. LEE SURRENDERED THE ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA THIS AFTERNOON, upon the terms proposed by myself. The accompanying additional correspondence will show the conditions fully.
(Signed)
U. S. GRANT, LIEUT. GEN’L.
SUNDAY, April 9, 1865
GENERAL – I received your note of this morning, on the picket line, whither I had come to meet you and ascertain definitely what terms were embraced in your proposition of yesterday with reference to the surrender of this army.
I now request an interview in accordance with the offer contained in your letter of yesterday for that purpose.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, R. E. LEE, GENERAL.
Gen. R. E. Lee, Commanding Confederate States Armies: Your note of this date is but this moment, 11:50 A.M., received.
SUNDAY, April 9, 1865.
In consequence of my having passed from the Richmond and Lynchburgh road to the Farmville and Lynchburgh road, I am at this writing about four miles West of Walter’s church, and will push forward to the front for the purpose of meeting you. Notice sent to me, on this road, where you wish the interview to take place, will meet me.
VERY RESPECTFULLY, YOUR OB’D’T SERVANT,
U. S. GRANT,
LIEUTENANT GENERAL.
APPOMATTOX COURT-HOUSE April 9, 1865.
General R. E. Lee, Commanding C. S. A.: In accordance with the substance of my letters to you of the 8th inst., I propose to receive the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia on the following terms, to wit:
Rolls of all the officers and men to be made in duplicate, one copy to be given to an officer designated by me, the other to be retained by such officers as you may designate.
The officers to give their individual paroles not to take arms against the Government of the United States until properly exchanged, and each company or regimental commander sign a like parole for the men of their commands.
The arms, artillery and public property to be packed and stacked and turned over to the officers appointed by me to receive them.
This will not embrace the side-arms of the officers, nor their private horses or baggage.
This done, EACH OFFICER AND MAN WILL BE ALLOWED TO RETURN TO THEIR HOMES, not to be disturbed by United States authority so long as they observe their parole and the laws in force where they reside.
VERY RESPECTFULLY,
U. S. GRANT, LIEUTENANT-GENERAL.
HEADQUARTERS
U.S. ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA
To LIEUT. GEN. GRANT, COMMANDING
UNITED STATES ARMIES.
April 9, 1865.
Lieut. Gen. U. S. Grant, Commanding U. S. A.:
GENERAL: I have received your letter of this date, CONTAINING THE TERMS OF SURRENDER OF THE ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA, as proposed by you. As they are substantially the same as those expressed in your letter of the 8th last, THEY ARE ACCEPTED. I will proceed to designate the proper officers to carry the stipulations into effect.
VERY RESPECTFULLY
YOUR OBEDIENT SERVANT
R.E. LEE, GENERAL
The Preliminary Correspondence
The following is the previous correspondence between Lieut. Gen. GRANT and Gen. LEE, referred to in the foregoing telegram to the Secretary of War:
CLIFTON HOUSE, VA., April 9, 1865.
Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War:
The following correspondence has taken plac
e between Gen. LEE and myself. There has been no relaxation in the pursuit during its pendency.
U. S. GRANT, LIEUTENANT GENERAL.
APRIL 7, 1865.
Gen. R. E. Lee, Commanding C. S. A.:
GENERAL: The result 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.
VERYRESPECTFULLY,
YOUR OBEDIENT SERVANT,
U.S.GRANT,
LIEUTENANT GENERAL,
COMMANDING ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATES.
APRIL 7, 1865.
General: I have received your note of this date.
Though not entirely of 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.
To Gen. R. E. Lee, Commanding C. S. A.:
GENERAL: Your note of last evening in reply to mine of same date, asking the conditions on which I will accept the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, is just received.
In reply, I would say that peace being my first desire, there is but one condition that I insist upon, viz.:
That the men surrendered shall be disqualified for taking up arms again against the Government of the United States until properly exchanged.
I will meet you, or designate officers to meet any officers you may name, for the same purpose, at any point agreeable to you, for the purpose of arranging definitely the terms upon which the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia will be received.
The Words of War Page 27