Aot - 1865

[larry_cockerham]

April 18, 1865 Discussion for Peace

April 18, 1865 After more talk at Durham N.C., Sherman and Johnston signed "Memorandum or basis of agreement." The highly controversial document called 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.

 

[larry_cockerham]

The review continues...

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 usurpation 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.
The seat was getting warm.

 

[larry_cockerham]

April 20, 1865

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

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

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 not a great Confederate day...

At the Bennett House near Durham, General William T Sherman met again with General Joseph E Johnston in mid afternoon. 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 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. ...".

 

[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.

May, 1865 men of the AOT in North Carolina headed for home

 

[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. Richard Taylor, son of the former president.

This included the remnants of the cavalry of Nathan Bedford Forrest. Lt. Gen Forrest declared "You boys can do what you **** please, I'm agoing home." This was in response to a proposal to move west and initiate guerrilla 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 1864 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

 

[TerryB]

Larry, I've read some newspaper accounts from that time that say Gen. Rosser refused the terms (of Lee's surrender) and tried to reach Johnston and Wheeler, but his troopers just went home. Have you read anything on that?

 

[larry_cockerham]

Larry, I've read some newspaper accounts from that time that say Gen. Rosser refused the terms (of Lee's surrender) and tried to reach Johnston and Wheeler, but his troopers just went home. Have you read anything on that?

No, I'm really not familiar with Rosser.

 

[TerryB]

No, I'm really not familiar with Rosser.

About the time I was putting the finishing touches on Gunfight, I learned that Capt. R.S. Rosser, one of the three men who shot Calder, was the brother of Gen. Thomas Rosser of the Virginia Cavalry. A town in Kaufmann County, TX is named after R.S. Rosser.

 

[larry_cockerham]

Terry, there would have been a lot of swamp, not to mention the Pamlico Sound moving south from Appamattox to get anywhere near Johnston. That was perhaps a great and noble idea, but one that wasn't going far. His men did the right thing. Even Forrest knew when it was time to just go home.

 

[TerryB]

Terry, there would have been a lot of swamp, not to mention the Pamlico Sound moving south from Appamattox to get anywhere near Johnston. That was perhaps a great and noble idea, but one that wasn't going far. His men did the right thing. Even Forrest knew when it was time to just go home.

Since the newspapers of those days were full of all sorts of wild speculation and unfounded rumors, it may well be that the Rosser story was made up.

 

[larry_cockerham]

May 8, 1865

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.

 

[larry_cockerham]

Letter from Major-General Thomas, U. S, Army, to Acting Rear-Admiral Lee, U. S. Navy, announcing the capture of Jefferson Davis and party.

NASHVILLE, May 16, 1865.

General Wilson has reported to me officially that Jeff. Davis and family; Reagan, Postmaster-General, C. S., and Colonel Harrison, private secretary; Colonel Johnston, aid-de-camp; and others of Davis's personal staff were captured at Irwinville, Ga., on the morning of the 10th at daylight. Clement C. Clay delivered himself to Wilson on the 12th at Macon, and A. H. Stephens was arrested by General Upton on the 11th at Augusta. Governor Brown, of Georgia, was also arrested by Wilson on the 4th instant. So it seems the Southern Confederacy and Georgia are done for.

GEORGE H. THOMAS,
Major-General.
Admiral S. P. LEE,
Mound City

 

[larry_cockerham]

The 10th TN US Cavalry relieved of duty at Natchez, Mississippi and ordered to Nashville. Farrier James Patterson Cockerham was about to head for his beloved Wilkes County, North Carolina to be reunited with his wife Amelia and children Mary Elizabeth, Letty Ann, Marcus Lafayette and James Elbert. [James Elbert Cockerham, my great grandfather 1864-1942]

 

[larry_cockerham]

Pardon, I just bumped this up where I could find it. It's about time to begin adding some updates. Recent browzing of some books has added some detail to this magnificent quest. It's important to continue working whatever portion of the war that holds your interest. I learn a bit each few days.

 

[RustyBull]

Gentleman,
Thanks so very much for this information. I worked for a number of years in Lauderdale County, Alabama for the USDA Soil Conservation Service and am very familiar with all these locations mentioned and knew several decendants of folks mentioned here. Much AOT history in that county,