|
From the Archives - Lt. Gen. U. S. Grant Sends a Telegram
On April 9, 1865, a few minutes after riding away from the McLean House at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, Commanding General of the United States Army, stopped briefly. Dismounting, he laid a piece of paper on a large rock and penned a short note to Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, which was promptly dispatched by telegram to Washington.
GENERAL LEE SURRENDERED THE ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA THIS AFTERNOON ON TERMS PROPOSED BY MYSELF. THE ACCOMPANYING ADDITIONAL CORRESPONDENCE WILL SHOW THE CONDITIONS FULLY
Having given Gen. Robert E. Lee and his Confederate troops generous terms and immunity from retaliation, after nearly four years of hard campaigning and well over 600,000 deaths, the Civil War was effectively over.
More...
|
