Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 184, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 August 1910 — AROUND THE CAMP FIRE [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

AROUND THE CAMP FIRE

WHERE GEN. LEE ENDED WAR

Appomattox, Scene of Historical SurH render In 1865, Now Falling Into Ruins. . t 9 ' Appomattox la a name that recalls! brave memories. There were two Appomattox towns in 1865 and there are two in 1910. It was at Appomattox station on the railroad between Petersburg and Lynchburg that Sheridan’s cavalry captured the supply train which stood between Lee’s army and starvation, and it was at Appomattox court house, about three miles'north, that Lee surrendered. The Appomattox court house of today occupies I nearly the site of Appomattox station! and the old town of Appomattox court! house is a ruined village with a few! collapsed houses and about the same number of inhabitants. The square in which the old court house stood lsi Covered with heaps of broken brick 1 and ashes and is overgrown with' scraggy trees. The old court house, with the county records, was burned: about fifteen years ago and the new court house was built on the line of' railroad. The McLean house, in which the: terms gi surrender were agreed on! and signed, was torn down in 1892 for removal to and reconstruction at the! Chicago world’s fair, but the idea was carried no further than the demolition of the house. The visitor to Appomattox has difficulty in learning the name of the present owner of the McLean house, or the, "'surrender house,” as it is called in that neighborhood. It was on April 7, 1865, when Grant was at Farmville, a few miles east of Appomattox, that the federal commander opened the correspondence with General Lee leading up to the surrender. At five o’clock on the evening of April 7 Grant wrote to Lee on “the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the army of northern Virginia In this struggle.” The same evening Grant received a letter from Lee, in which the latter said: “Though not entertaining the opinion you express of the hopelessness of further resistance, I reciprocate your desire to avoid useless effusion of blood, and therefore, before considering your proposal, ask the terms you will otter on condition of Burrender." On the morning of April 8 Grant wrote to Lee: “Peace being my great desire, there is but one consideration

I would Insist upon—namely, that the men and officers surrendered Bhall be disqualified from taking up arms against the government of the United States until properly exchanged.” At midnight, April 8, Grant received a letter from Lee asking for a conference on the subject of peace and agreeing to meet Grant on the old stage road to Richmond between the picket lines of the two armies. Grant answered that he had no authority to treat of anything but the surrender of the army of northern Virginia. Later In the day Lee asked for an Interview. Grant assented and sent hla answer by Col. Orville E. Babcock of his staff. Babcock found Lee by the roadside under an apple tree. The interview was arranged and Lee, accompanied by hia military secretary, Col. Charles Marshall, met Grant at McLeans houßb In Appomattex at one o’clock Sunday afternoon, April #. Grant was accompanied by General Sheridan Gen. Edward O. C. Ord, Gen. Rufua’ Ingalls, Gen. John A. Rawlins, Seth Williams, Gen. John G. Barnard] CoL Horace Porter. Col. Orville e! Baboock, Col. Ely a Parker, Col. odore a Bowers, Col. Frederick T Dent and Col. Adam Badeau. The conference lasted till f our o’clock. At 4:30 o’clock Grant sent a dispatch to Secretary Stanton announcing Lee’s surrender. Then the name of Appomattox was heard around the world. v On April 10 General Lee Issued hi* fhrewell order to his army and on April 12 the confederate soldiers were paroled.

The Terms of Surrender Were Agreed Upon and Signed.