Aot - 1865

[larry_cockerham]

April 8, 1865

On this day Wilson was able to reach the town of Cahawba where he met with Nathan Bedford Forrest at the home of Col. Matthews a wealthy planter and Unionist. Wilson described Forrest: “I found him loosely put together, and he appeared rather under than over six feet. His frame was large and his body full and I guessed his weight at one hundred and seventy-five pounds. His countenance was serious, his conduct diffident, but self-possessed, and his bearing from military affectations. It took but a glance to discover that life and duties were all-important to him, and that whatever engaged his attention would receive most careful consideration.” After dinner Forrest denied the authority for a prisoner exchange, but offered Wilson information on Croxton’s location.

On the 8th Gen. Stewart received orders to consolidate the depleted regiments.

[larry_cockerham]

Some of the following is from a transcription of the diary of William Taylor Mumford Company B First Louisiana Heavy Artillery Regiment (April 1865)

April 9, 1865

Appamattox Court House, Virginia.

Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to Ulysses S. Grant.
Much depleted after the Bentonville fight, Palmer's Brigade was reorganized. On April 9, 1865 the 63rd Virginia was consolidated with the 54th Virginia. ( Between the two regiments, they could barely muster 100 men).The new organization was designated the 54th Battalion of Virginia Infantry under the command of Lt. Col. Connelly H. Lynch. Brig. Gen. Palmer was placed in command of a brigade of 43 consolidated Tennessee regiments in Gen. Bates' Division. The 58th and 60th North Carolina Regiments were consolidated and transferred to Brantley's Brigade in D.H. Hill's Division which was under the command of Col. J. G. Coltart.


Pettus’ Brigade

19th Alabama Infantry Regt.
20th Alabama Infantry Regt.
23rd Alabama Infantry Regt.
31st Alabama Infantry Regt.
54th Virginia Infantry Bn.

After the reorganization of the units, the 54th Va. Inf. Bn. ( 63rd Va. and 54th Va. consolidated) with Pettus' Brigade was sent back to the Yadkin River as a rear guard to secure the bridges. The 63rd was here when news of Lee's surrender in Virginia reached them. While the 63rd was guarding the Yadkin River Bridge, President Jefferson Davis and his cabinet crossed the bridge and headed to Salisbury. Johnston surrendered his Army of Tennessee shortly after this. Some soldiers, upon hearing of Lee's surrender just went home.

Private Whitfield Monroe Parker, in his 20th year at this time, may well have accompanied the 63rd Virginia Infantry to Salisbury before catching a train north into Virginia and then making his way by rail back to Wallace's Swith just west of Bristol, where he needed assistance on the trek back to his nearby residence. His pension application stated he 'served until war's end'. Sinah Mariah Holt was there to greet him. New and greater things than this horrible war were on the horizon for this young couple; John Henry Parker for one thing, my great grandfather.

[larry_cockerham]

April 10, 1865

Jefferson Davis and his party left Danville on the way to Greensboro, North Carolina.

The situation was becoming a mite uncomfortable for the President of the Confederacy. He was guarding the treasury and his butt, both to the best of his ability, as he moved south toward more nearly friendly territory. Like many a young man to follow him in life, the U.S. Army wanted him and was soon on his trail.

[larry_cockerham]

April 11, 1865

Cheatham’s Corps, the remainder of the once proud Army of Tennessee was in Raleigh, North Carolina


General James Harrison Wilson’s 4th US Cavalry was between Church Hill and Lowndesborough, Alabama.

[larry_cockerham]

April 12, 1865

On the [Steamer] Sumpter, going up the Tombigby River. Demopolis is supposed to be our destination. Having no relief for the engineers or pilots, we stopped about dark at a small place called Jackson and remained there all night. [Steamer] Heroine anchored in the stream just alongside.

James Wilson’s cavalry entered Montgomery, Alabama which had previously been surrendered without a shot being fired. Colonel Cooper's detachments “destroyed the arsenal containing 20,000 stands of small arms, one foundry and moulding shop, a car wheel-foundry, a niter works, the Pensacola and West Point Railroad depot, along with a locomotive, 20 rail cars, and a machine shop containing a number of unfinished cars.”, as per Jerry Keenan in his Wilson’s Cavalry Corps.

[larry_cockerham]

April 13, 1865

Cheatham’s Corps in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

[larry_cockerham]

April 14, 1865 President Abraham Lincoln shot. He died next day.

Good Friday, April 14, 1865, ... Shortly after 10:00 P.M., in the presidential box at Ford's Theater, President Abraham Lincoln was shot by actor John Wilkes Booth. ... General Grant had turned down an invitation to attend, pleading he had to visit his children. It was known there was "chilliness" between Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Grant. At the theater ... a pistol shot was heard ... A bullet had gone through the back of the head and lodged near the right eye.... Sec. of War Stanton took charge of the pursuit of Booth and his accomplices as the telegraph wires hummed the awesome news to the nation. General Grant was at Baltimore when informed of the tragedy and he immediately returned to Washington. ...

[larry_cockerham]

April 14, 1865

(Good Friday) Arrived in Demopolis at 12.30 A.M. and after a few hours delay, marched to a camping ground about two miles from the landing. Col. Chas. A. Fuller, 1st La. Arty., in command of all the troops, about sixteen hundred all told. A most miserable camping ground, very low and swampy. No rations issued yet, the command greatly in need of something to eat. Great confusion, no one seems to know his business. The garrisons of McIntosh and Gladden are greatly in want of equipment, etc., for service in the field. What will be our next move, puzzles all.

General James Wilson’s command left Montgomery this day and had a brief skirmish with Buford’s cavalry about 12 miles to the east.

[larry_cockerham]

April 15, 1865 ...

At 7:22 A.M., President Abraham Lincoln died. ... The Cabinet, except for the injured Seward, formally requested Vice-President Andrew Johnson to assume the office of President. At 11:00 A.M. at the Kirkwood Hotel, Chief Justice, Salmon Chase administered the oath in the presence of the Cabinet and congressman.

This day General James Wilson reached Tuskegee, Alabama.

Jefferson Davis authorized Johnston to negotiate terms with Sherman and headed south with a cavalry escort towards Salisbury, North Carolina.

[larry_cockerham]

April 16, 1865

Wilson reached Columbus, Georgia, the site of an important naval ironworks. Rivercraft were repaired and built here in great numbers until the war began drawing to a close. The city was defended by Major General Howell Cobb, former secretary of the US Treasury under President James Buchanan and later the first president of the Confederate Congress. Cobb had a force of only about 3,000 men to defend the otherwise well-fortified city. The fierce battle only lasted a couple of hours. Wilson had a formidable force. The same or next day he captured West Point, Georgia and Fort Tyler.

[larry_cockerham]

April 17, 1865

Generals William T. Sherman and Joseph E. Johnston met at the Bennett House near Durham N.C. A short time before, Sherman had received news of the assassination of the President. Johnston told Sherman it was a great calamity to the South. In their talks the two generals went further than just surrendering Johnstons army. They discussed the terms of an armistice for all the remaining Confederate armies. Sherman later disclaimed going beyond negotiations over Johnston's army but admitted: "it did seem to me that there was presented a chance for peace that might deem valuable to the Government of the United States and was at least worth the few days that would be consumed in reference." They agreed to meet the next day.

Jefferson Davis arrived at Salisbury, North Carolina

[larry_cockerham]

April 18, 1865

[Wilson] Left McDowell’s Landing at 6.30 A.M. on the train for *******n. Arrived safely at *******n at 2 P.M. Drew rations at the depot and marched out two miles from town to camp. All kinds of rumors in circulation about the capture of Lee’s army and the death of President Lincoln and Mr. Seward. About sixty men of the regiment sent to the hospital in the last two days. A few men desert every (Page 16) night. Full rations issued to the troops now and a small ration of coffee and sugar. Gold sold today at one hundred for one, and greenbacks at seventy-five for one.

[larry_cockerham]

April 18, 1865

Jefferson Davis spent two weeks in Charlotte, NC. He was giving a speech this day when he received word of Lincoln’s assassination.

[larry_cockerham]

April 18, 1865

After more talk at Durham N.C., Sherman and Johnston signed "Memorandum or basis of agreement." The highly controversial document call for an armistice by all armies in the field. Confederate forces were to be disbanded and to deposit their arms in the state arsenals. Each man was to agree to cease from war and agree by state and federal authority. The President of the United States was to recognize the existing state governments when their officials took oaths to the United States. Reestablishment of Federal courts would take place. People were to be guaranteed rights of person and property. The United states would not disturb the people of the South as long as they lived in peace. And general amnesty for Confederates.

The generals recognized that they were not fully empowered to carry out such far-reaching measures and that the necessary authority must be obtained. It was clear Sherman went far beyond Grant at Appomattox. He was actually entering into reconstruction policy. He sent the terms to Grant and Halleck, asking approval by the President. Sherman also offered to take charge of carrying out these terms. Later he was to deny any ursupation of power on his part and to claim the agreement was according to Mr. Lincoln's wishes as Sherman knew them.

President Davis [of the Confederacy] and his disconsolate party slowly moved southward to Concord N.C.

[larry_cockerham]

April 20, 1865

City of Macon, Georgia captured by Gen. James Harrison Wilson. Two armies. One road. Records of 2nd Indiana Cavalry.

[larry_cockerham]

April 21, 1865

HDQRS. MILILTARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI
In the Field, Raleigh, NC April 21, 1865

GENERAL JAMES H. WILSON
Commanding Cavalry Division of the Mississippi, Macon, GA
(Through General J.E. Johnston)

GENERAL: A suspension of hostilities was agreed on between General Johnston and myself on Tuesday, April 18 at 12 noon. I want that agreement religiously observed, and you may release the generals captured at Macon, occupy ground convenient, and contract for supplies for your command, and forbear any act of hostility until you hear or have reason to believe hostilities are resumed. In the meantime, it is also agreed the position of the enemy’s forces must not be altered to our prejudice. You know by this time that General Lee has surrendered to General Grant the rebel Army of Northern Virginia and that I only await the sanction of the President to conclude terms of peace coextensive with the boundaries of the United States. You will shape your conduct on this knowledge unless you have overwhelming proof to the contrary.

W. T. Sherman, Major-General, Commanding.

[larry_cockerham]

April 23, 1865 Cheatham’s Corps near Greensboro, North Carolina

[larry_cockerham]

April 24, 1865

General Grant reached Sherman's headquarters in Raleigh and brought with him the news that President Johnson had disapproved Shermans agreement with Johnston. Sherman was ordered to give forty--eight hours notice and then resume hostilities if there was no surrender. Sherman was incensed both by the disapproval and the large amount of material on the subject in the New York papers including the dispatch of March 3, 1865 from Lincoln to Grant stating the generals should accept nothing but surrender and should not negotiate peace. Sherman said he never received the message. The fiery general soon raged against Stanton and Halleck, claiming he had not gone beyond Lincoln's wishes. While historians differ, it does seem that Sherman had gone beyond military obligations, and that he did try to make a peace agreement. Grant was now under orders to direct military movements and left Sherman to carry them out. General Johnston was ordered to suspend the truce at once. President Davis approved Johnston's agreement with Sherman, not knowing it had been rejected by the Union.

[larry_cockerham]

April 26, 1865 ...

At the Bennett House near Durham, General William T Sherman met again with General Joseph E Johnston in midafternoon. Final terms of capitulation for troops of Johnston's command were signed following the formula set by Grant at Appomattox. The same day the terms were approved by Grant. All arms and public property were to be deposited by Confederates at Greensborough. Troops were to give their parole and pledge not to take up arms until released from this obligation. Side arms of officers and their private horses and baggage could be retained. All officers and men were permitted to return to their homes. Field transportation was to be loaned to the troops for getting home and later use. A small quantity of arms would be retained and then deposited in state capitals. Horses and other private property were to be retained. troops from Te[x]as and Arkansas were to be furnished water transportation. Surrender of naval forces with the limits of Johnston command. Thus the second major army of the Confederate States of of America totaling in all about thirty thousand men surrendered.

The Confederate Cabinet met with President Davis at Charlotte and agreed to leave that day with the aim of getting west of the Mississippi. ...". Exit, stage left?

[larry_cockerham]

April 26, 1865

Gen. Joseph Johnston surrendered the Army of
Tennessee to Gen. William T. Sherman at Bennett Place in west
Durham, North Carolina.

That same day Col. Josiah Patterson was writing from Alabama:

Somerville, April 26, 1865.
Brig. Gen. R.S. Granger,
Commanding U.S. Forces, North Alabama:

SIR: I have seen your letter and also that of General Thomas, addressed to the citizens of this county. Thanking you for your kind intentions, I beg leave to make the following statement: There is at this time a considerable force of Confederate cavalry in this section of country. I have received no notification of General Lee's surrender except through Northern channels. Although I do not doubt that it is so, yet you are aware that I can take no action in the premises unless I had official information of the fact, and it would be impossible for citizens of the county, with any degree of propriety, to make any engagements which would compromise them with a command which is composed of their relatives and friends. I make free to state, general, that if General Lee has surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia, it leaves, in my judgement, our cause in a hopeless condition. A further shedding of blood would be suicidal. Guerrilla or partisan warfare would be the only warfare we could resort to, and that would prove disastrous alike to friend and foe. However much may have been said heretofore of guerilla warfare as a last resort, yet no good man, however patriotic he might be, would encourage, much less participate in, such a struggle. It is impossible for any action to be taken at this time. I will, however, communicate with General Roddey, and use my excretions to bring about such joint action on the part of the people and this command as will best secure life and property. In the meantime I respectfully ask that you refrain from any offensive operations for twenty days and I will do the same. You will please communicate with me immediately at this place as to what action you will take in this premises. You will perhaps not deem it improper for me to state no good man or brave spirit in our army takes pleasure in the assassination of President Lincoln. The deed has met with the universal condemnation of our troops, so far as I have heard an expression.

I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
JOSIAH PATTERSON,
Colonel, Commanding Fifth Regiment Cavalry.

[larry_cockerham]

May 2, 1865

Major General Edward C. Walthall was paroled and
returned to his home in Mississippi.

Jefferson Davis and party arrived in Abbeville, Georgia where he paid his escort from the Confederate Treasury and released them from service.

[larry_cockerham]

May 4, 1865

The 21st Tennessee Cavalry CSA surrendered at Citronelle, Alabama under the command of Lt. Gen. Taylor, son of the former president. This included the remnants of the cavalry of Nathan Bedford Forrest who declared “You boys can do what you **** please, I’m agoing home.” This was in response to a proposal to move west and initiate guerilla warfare.

[larry_cockerham]

May 5, 1865

Two armies on the same road, or at least two soldiers covering much of the same ground was certainly true of Edward Hatch of Maine and Nathan Bedford Forrest of Tennessee. These two men confronted each other across Tennessee and Alabama from 1863 until the war’s end.

It was Hatch who had the last say at least on paper as he wrote the following document demanding the surrender of the remainder of Forrest’s command:

[HEADQUARTERS FIFTH DIVISION, CAVALRY CORPS,
MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI,
Eastport, Miss., May 5, 1865.
Lieut. Gen. N. B. FORREST:

I am directed by the major-general commanding Department of the Cumberland to demand the surrender of all Confederate forces under your command on the same terms given to Generals Lee and Johnston by General Grant, viz:

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 officer 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 command; the arms, artillery, and public property to be parked and stacked, and turned over to the officer appointed by me to receive them. This will not embrace the side-arms of the officers or the private horses or baggage. This done, each officer and man will be allowed to return to their homes, and not to be disturbed by the U.S. authorities so long as they observe their parole and the laws in force where they may reside.

If these terms are accepted, send an officer to Baldwyn or Eastport to arrange final preliminaries. Answer by bearer of these dispatches.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

EDWARD HATCH,
Brigadier-General, Commanding.]

SOURCE: Official Records

[larry_cockerham]

On May 8, 1865, General Richard Taylor, commander of the department, surrendered all of the forces under his command, including the remnants of the 39th Regiment N.C. Troops.

[larry_cockerham]

May 10, 1865

Jefferson Davis reached Dublin, Georgia and was briefly reunited with his family before being captured that morning by the Fourth Michigan regiment. His next stop was Fortress Monroe, Virginia.