"General Lee?"
It was Walter Taylor standing in the doorway of the vestry that Lee now used as his headquarters.
Walter knew he had been asleep for several hours, and Lee, a bit embarrassed, stirred and sat up. "Yes, Walter."
"Sir, a messenger just came from General Grant. He requests that you meet him back at the chapel, you and Secretary Benjamin."
"I'm coming."
Lee stood up, brushed himself off, and almost picked up his saber and side arm to snap on, then left them in place. Outside the church Traveler was waiting, Benjamin already mounted.
The two rode off together, Walter and a dozen cavalry troopers providing escort.
The encampment area was quiet, as it had been throughout the day. The men were so exhausted that the shock of what had transpired this day had caused a complete collapse. Men had simply lain down in the fields and gone to sleep. With the coming of evening a few managed to get fires going, but there was little to cook until something absolutely remarkable happened.
At first it was just one or two, then a few dozen, and then by the hundreds; Yankees had crossed the field, drifting into the camps, shyly pulling out a few pieces of hardtack, a tattered bag filled with coffee, a little bit of salt pork or a chicken snatched from some farmyard. They sat peacefully together, chatting away, comparing notes of who had fought where. Officers were doing it, too, especially the West Pointers, seeking out classmates and comrades from so long ago.
As Lee's party approached the chapel, Grant was leaning against the doorway, smoking a cigar, and he stood up formally as Lee dismounted. The two stood silently for a moment, neither quite sure of protocol, and finally Lee offered a salute, which Grant returned.
"Sir, I felt we should talk," Grant said and he motioned Lee to the door, then looked back at Judah Benjamin. "Just the four of us. The secretary of war waits inside."
The table in the room was set about with four chairs, a coal oil lamp in the middle and a few candles by the altar shedding the only light. Souvenir hunters had been busy throughout the day in the abandoned chapel. It was reported Phil Sheridan had snatched the table the surrender had been signed on, while others had hauled out pews, even a couple of the stained-glass windows. The table between them now was a rough-hewn affair, carried over from Grant's headquarters, as was the lantern and candles.
A pot of coffee, still warm, was on the floor, and Elihu produced four tin cups and poured the drinks as the small group sat down.
"I think we need to talk," Grant said, opening now without any nervous preamble.
"I agree, sir. And again my thanks for the generosity shown to my men this day."
Grant unconsciously let his hand drift to his breast pocket, which contained the missive from Lincoln: "Let them down easy," had been written not once, but twice, in his directives not only to negotiate the surrender of Lee but to discuss broader issues as well.
"General Lee," Grant continued, "I realize there is a difference in our ranks. I command all of the armed forces of the United States of America now in the field, while you but command the Army of Northern Virginia."
"Yes, that is true."
"But I would like to enter into negotiations to end all fighting, to end this war. The president in a memo sent to me yesterday reaffirmed my authority to do so in a military sense, and he asks if you would consider such a proposition."
Lee sat back and shook his head.
"General Grant, I have no authority to do so. You are right, I command the Army of Northern Virginia, which has laid down its arms this day. As for the other armies in the field, I have absolutely no authority to speak for them."
"As I knew you would reply," Grant said.
"Then why ask?"
"Sir, I think I should explain a few things that now confront us both." "Go on."
"As I told you this morning, you and all your men will be paroled home. I offer as well to you my personal pledge that, once home, no one will bother or molest you or your men. The president made that clear in his memo to me. As far as he is concerned, your war is over, or should I say, our war against you; Obey the laws of the United States of America, and nothing more will be done to any of you."
"And as I said before, that is most generous."
"And yet the war continues."
"I have no control over that."
"I think you do, sir."
Lee shook his head and remained silent., "I shall share with you the rest of the memo sent by the president."
He looked over at Elihu, who nodded in agreement.
"We are to help you and your men return to Virginia. Even now my engineers are completing a bridge at Edwards Ferry. You can march out, once disarmed, and stack your colors before crossing the river. I suggest you then take your troops to Richmond and there disband them."
He took a deep breath.
"The day after you return to Virginia, I will move my army across the Potomac as well, but advance no farther than the Rappahannock River, occupying the positions held by our armies prior to the Chancellorsville campaign. This I do as a military necessity to shield Washington, but also to position myself for an advance on Richmond."
Lee nodded, looking straight at Grant.
"And then?"
"Sir, if the Confederate government does not seek a general armistice leading to their disbandment at the end of thirty days, I am ordered to drive straight on Richmond. I will also detach one corps to occupy Shenandoah Valley and, if need be, destroy any material of military worth."
"Please, sir, define military worth?" Lee asked.
"The fall harvest, all barns, railroads, everything clear down the valley to Tennessee. I will do the same as I advance toward Richmond."
"I see," Lee replied, shaking his head. "A new kind of war, isn't it, General Grant?"
"A kind of war that will become necessary if your goveminent does not see reality and disband. I will regret it, sir, but I will order it without hesitation.
"We do not need to play any bluff games with each other, General Lee. You have absolutely no forces left in Virginia, other than some militia. Once I start this next campaign I shall be in Richmond within the week.
"I regret to say this, but I am ordered to carry my campaign forward with full and absolute vigor. That means my army will live off the land as we advance. We will cut a swath fifty miles wide and destroy everything in our path."
Lee sighed.
"General Grant, so far, this war has been fought with a certain degree of civility, with respect to the property rights of civilians."
"That is war, this new kind of war," Grant replied, and there was a sharpness to his voice. "I do not like it any more than you do. It is the prayerful wish of our president that the terms of surrender granted here today will send a positive message across the South. We want peace, we wish it as much as you, and we can have it with honor. But if there are some who wish to continue the fight, then utter devastation will be the result.
"I am not sure that you heard the news from Atlanta today," Grant said.
"No, sir."
"Sherman has soundly defeated Bragg again, near Kennesaw Mountain. We received word that your president is finally relieving Bragg and replacing him with Joe Johnston, but it is too little too late. Sherman declares that his armies will start the bombardment of Atlanta within days; in fact, he is holding back until I authorize him to do so. He believes he can take the city in a matter of days.
"If your resistance continues, he has already suggested the plan to burn Atlanta to the ground, tear up the railroads, and then march from there straight to Savannah, again living off the land, destroying most of Georgia in the process."
Lee glared at Grant.
"Sir, I saw a certain compassion in you this morning. Your words now challenge that first assumption."
Grant leaned forward and stared at Lee intently.
"Sir, we are soldiers. We have seen nothing but hell the last two years. You know and I know your cause is lost. To me, the wasting of but one more life would be a sin. Yes, there has been a threat offered, but also a hope, a hope that you and I can work together to end this terrible slaughter and return peace to our land. Sir, I must repeat, any more deaths will be a sin, and they will rest upon your soul and mine."
Lee, a bit flustered, took up the cup of coffee Elihu had offered and looked down as he took a sip. Then he looked up.
"I believe you," Lee said.
Grant signed, sat back in his chair, and nodded his thanks.
"But I repeat, I have no authority beyond that of the Army of Northern Virginia," Lee replied.
"Gentlemen, may I interrupt?" Elihu said and he leaned forward, placing his hands on the table.
Grant nodded his assent, and Elihu looked over at Judah.
"I hope you don't mind that I call you Judah," Elihu said. "The rules of diplomatic protocol forbid me from addressing you by your title since we have never recognized the legitimacy of your government."
Judah smiled.
"Of course, Elihu." 'The generals have had their words. I think you and I should now share a few thoughts."
"And your thoughts are?" Judah asked.
"Your government declares that you are secretary of state. All know that you are the one who is always at the right side of your president Davis. You, more than any other, have the power to persuade him."
"You confer upon me more power than I think I have," Judah replied with a smile.
"Let me tell you the terms President Lincoln now offers."
"Go on."
"I carry with me an additional letter, which I shall turn over to you at the end of this meeting, outlining the terms, which are as follows.
"Your Confederate government is to vote to surrender to the government of the United States of America. It is then to vote full allegiance to that government and its Constitution. Then it must disband itself and go home.
"Upon doing that, a military armistice shall be declared and all armies of the federal forces will stop in place, except for two forces. General Grant's will occupy Richmond and Sherman's will occupy Atlanta.
"All troops are to surrender their arms to the nearest federal forces, sign paroles, and return home. State militias behind the lines are to report to their respective capitals, disarm, sign paroles, and return home as well.
"In return, and you will have it in writing from President Lincoln, there will be no arrests, no incarcerations, no trials, no retributions, no confiscations of property"-he paused- "other than slaves."
"Sir?"
"The Emancipation Proclamation shall become law across all twelve of the states in rebellion; all slaves at the moment of the surrender of your government are forever free."
"A bit hypocritical," Judah offered back. "What about those states which remained in the Union, where slavery still exists?"
"I agree, and given some things I've heard about you, I think this is a moral issue for you as well," Elihu replied. "In his message to Congress, come December, the president will set forth several measures. The first is a constitutional amendment forever banning slavery and granting full rights of citizenship. Second, when your various state legislatures reconvene, those men, who have signed an oath of loyalty to the Union and agree to support the constitutional amendment ending slavery, will hold their seats and will then vote for senators and, for the present, congressmen to be sent to Washington. The one stipulation for those elected to federal office is that they must sign oaths of allegiance as well and an oath in support of the constitutional amendment banning slavery. That is their only requirement.
"The government will resume in January with full representation from the South."
The room was silent for a moment, Judah taking the information in.
"No reprisals?"
"No, sir. The president is emphatic on that. He said the other day that we are like a family that has been divided too long, until a beloved child within the family dies. That child is the four hundred thousand sons so far lost. In spite of our differences we must now gather to mourn him and to repair all that we have done to each other.
"This is unofficial, but the president has authorized me to state this to you two gentlemen in private. If the South returns thus, come next summer, he will place before the Republican Party a nomination of a Southerner as his running mate and will promise one or two cabinet-level offices as well. The party will run on a unity and reconciliation platform."
"The terms are generous," Judah conceded, "but the issue of the blacks. Where are they to go? How will they live?"
"I saw the field carpeted with dead black soldiers at Frederick," Grant said coldly. "If any have earned the right of full citizenship, it is they."
He looked over at Lee, who lowered his eyes and then nodded in agreement.
"It will be hard. But I believe, as Lincoln said to me a few days back, 'Every drop of blood drawn by the bondsman has now been repaid.' We must learn to live together. And I pray that we can. Lincoln will propose a program in December opening up land in the west as part of the Homestead Act for any who wish to go there to start life anew. He is proposing as well federal moneys for schools and colleges, and, if need be, the direct loans for the purchase of land in the South, at fair market value, for any who wish to sell part of their farms and plantations to those who once worked them."
"That will be expensive."
"The war cost nearly two million dollars a day. The price will be cheap in comparison to another year of war. If your congressmen and senators vote for the appropriations, well, to be cynical, they will profit, because they are some of the biggest landholders, but in so doing will set the example as well. Sir, I must warn you, the president and I have talked about this at length. If maneuvers are played by former owners, to try to rebond their former slaves to the land, through sharecropping, or contracts of service that are impossible to fulfill, the offer of direct purchase will be withdrawn, and confiscation might then be considered.
"It is the clear and stated policy of this administration that the black man is now an equal citizen, in a nation of equals. Many of them paid that price in blood, as both Generals Grant and Lee can affirm. If this nation is to heal, that must be one of the cornerstones. We do not wish this issue to haunt us for the next hundred years. We can end it here."
Elihu leaned forward and stared straight at Judah.
"Sir, if we do not agree to this point, I fear that what helped to cause this war, the issue of slavery and race, will continue to fester within us for the next hundred years. I do not wish to sound overly sentimental or patriotic, but the Declaration did declare that all men are created equal. I want to believe that the four of us, sitting here, can help that to come true."
Judah sighed.
"And yet human nature being what it is, I hope your dream is true, Elihu. I have a friend in Baltimore, a rabbi, who shared basically the same thoughts with me just a few weeks past. Yes, he is right, and so are you. As a Jew I should be more sensitive to that than most. The history of my people is replete with persecutions, and I fear in times to come it will happen again, perhaps even worse than what was endured before. But we here now rail against the deep-seated fears of so many."
"Then we set the example," Grant interjected. "The example the president will set as well. The example I know you, General Lee, have always set. I received a report yesterday how you personally intervened and protected some of our black prisoners of war. I thank you for that, and I can assure you word of that will spread."
"They were honorable soldiers, I could do no less."
"I think, gentlemen, we are all in agreement on this," Elihu interjected.
Elihu looked over at Grant and sat back.
"Gentlemen, I think it has nearly all been said."
Lee nodded.
"I promise you, General Lee, rations shall be up by dawn for your men. The signing of paroles will start tomorrow as well. Might I suggest a formal stacking of arms and colors on the morning of September 3. At which time I will try to issue out five days' rations to each of your men to help them on their way home."
"Thank you, sir."
The group stood up and was silent, not sure how it was to end.
"It is our duty now," Grant said, "to heal this nation."
The White House
August 31,1863 10:30 P.M.
The serenaders had gathered around the White House at dusk, when the first newspaper extras had been rushed out into the streets, newsboys crying, "Lee surrenders at Frederick!" "Grant saves the Union!"
The crowd, which only days before had been on the verge of rioting, was now exuberant, cheer after cheer rising up as two batteries in Lafayette Park fired off a hundred-gun salute.
He had finally relented and stepped out onto the balcony, unable to speak for several minutes as hysterical cries greeted him.
Finally he lowered his head. Then all fell silent, and he looked up at them.
"Now is a time of celebration," he said, "and I join with you."
Again long minutes of cheering. "Hurrah for Old Abe." "Hurrah for Grant." "The Union."
"And yet, our task is not finished," he began, the crowd falling silent with his words. "There is much to do. Let us all join in prayer that our former brothers and sisters of the South shall see the will of God in this decision and that soon the guns will fall silent forever. That the chorus of the Union shall again swell as one voice and that the better angels of our nature shall again prevail.
"Now is a time of celebration but it must be, as well, a time of forgiveness. Forgiveness of our former foes, and yes, of ourselves as well, for all that we have done to each other. God has placed this test before us and let us rise to the occasion, not just now but in years to come. Let us set aside our hatreds, our fears, and join hands once more. Let us show compassion for the wounded and the widow"-he paused- "of both sides.
"And let us honor, as well, the pledge made by our forefathers in the Declaration, in which it is written, that all men are created equal. Let us now honor that pledge as well."
There were no cheers now, only a somber silence, some in tears.
He forced a smile and looked down at the band on the front lawn of the White House.
"Bandmaster, I think we can claim right of conquest to a song I have loved dearly for years, but have seldom heard in this city of late."
"Whatever you desire, Mr. President," the bandmaster shouted back, and a certain levity returned to the crowd.
" 'Dixie.' I would dearly love to hear 'Dixie' once more."