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Rh assault, and communications were opened with the fleet, which furnished ample supplies to his army. Savannah thus became a marine base for future operations. Sherman announced in a brief note to President Lincoln the evacuation of the city. &ldquo;I beg to present you,&rdquo; he writes, &ldquo;as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah, with 150 heavy guns, plenty of ammunition, and 25,000 bales of cotton.&rdquo; His army had marched 300 miles in twenty-four days, through the heart of Georgia, and had lived in plenty all the way. The value of this splendid achievement cannot be overestimated. On 12 Aug. he had been appointed major-general in the U. S. army, and on 10 Jan. he received the thanks of congress for his &ldquo;triumphal march.&rdquo; After the occupation of Savannah the question arose whether Sherman should come north by sea or march with his army through the Atlantic states. He preferred the latter plan. Schofield, leaving Thomas in Tennessee, was sent by rail and steamers to the coast of North Carolina with his corps (23d) to march upon Goldsboro', N. C., to co-operate with him. Sherman left Savannah in February, moved through the Salkehatchie swamp, flanked Charleston, compelled its evacuation, and entered Columbia on the 17th. Thence he moved on Goldsboro' by way of Winnsboro', Cheraw, and Fayetteville, opening communication by Cape Fear river with Schofield on 12 March, fighting at Averysboro' and Bentonville, where the enemy resisted

his advance vigorously. At Averysboro' on the 16th Gen. Henry W. Slocum with four divisions attacked the intrenched position of Gen. William J. Hardee, and, turning his left flank, compelled him to fall back, while the cavalry, under Gen. Hugh Judson Kilpatrick, were attacked and driven back by the Confederate infantry of Gen. Lafayette McLaws on the road to Bentonville. At the latter point Gen. Johnston's force was attacked in a strongly intrenched position on the 19th by the left wing of Sherman's army, under Gen. Slocum, whose right flank had been broken and driven back. After an obstinate combat, the Confederates withdrew in the night. Sherman and Schofield met at Goldsboro' on 23 and 24 March as originally planned. Leaving his troops there, he visited President Lincoln and Gen. Grant at City Point, returning to Goldsboro' on the 30th. The interview on board the &ldquo;Ocean Queen&rdquo; is represented in the accompanying vignette copy of a painting by G. P. A. Healy, entitled &ldquo;The Peacemakers,&rdquo; the fourth member of the group being Admiral Porter. Sherman is shown at the moment that he said to Mr. Lincoln: &ldquo;If Lee will only remain in Richmond till I can reach Burkesville, we shall have him between our thumb and fingers,&rdquo; suiting the action to the word.

He was now ready to strike the Danville road, break Lee's communications, and cut off his retreat, or to re-enforce Grant in front of Richmond for a final attack. He would be ready to move on 10 April. Johnston at Greensboro' received news of

Lee's surrender on the 12th, and on the 14th sent a flag of truce to Sherman to know upon what terms he would receive his surrender. &ldquo;I am fully empowered,&rdquo; Sherman wrote to him, &ldquo;to arrange with you any terms for the suspension of hostilities, and am willing to confer with you to that end. That a base of action may be had, I undertake to abide by the same conditions entered into by Gens. Grant and Lee at Appomattox Court-House, Va., on the 9th inst.&rdquo; After considerable correspondence and a long interview with Gen. Johnston, having in view an immediate and complete peace, Sherman made a memorandum or basis of agreement between the armies, which was considered by the government as at once too lenient and exceeding his powers. It included in terms of capitulation not only the army of Johnston, but all the Confederate troops remaining in the field. By the 7th article it was announced in general terms &ldquo;that the war is to cease; a general amnesty so far as the executive of the United States can command, on condition of the disbandment of the Confederate army, the distribution of arms, and the resumption of peaceful pursuits by officers and men hitherto composing said armies.&rdquo; In order to secure himself against the assumption of power, the article is thus continued: &ldquo;Not being fully empowered by our respective principals to fulfil these terms, we individually and officially pledge ourselves to promptly obtain authority, and will endeavor to

carry out the above programme.&rdquo; It was an honest effort on the part of a humane commander to put an end to the strife at once. Perhaps affairs were somewhat complicated by the assassination of President Lincoln on 14 April, which created great indignation and sorrow. It not only affected the terms between Johnston and Sherman, but it caused the latter to fall under the suspicion of the secretary of war. On their arrival in Washington they were promptly and curtly disapproved by a despatch sent, not to Sherman, but to Gen. Grant, on the morning of 24 April, directing him to go at once to North Carolina, by order of Sec. Stanton, to repudiate the terms and to negotiate the whole matter as in the case of Lee. Gen. Sherman considered himself rebuked for his conduct. It was supposed that in the terms of agreement there was an acknowledgment of the Confederate government and a proposed re-establishment of the state authorities and that it might furnish a ground of claim for the payment of the Confederate debt in the future. Such certainly was not its purpose, nor does it now appear that such could have been its effect. Sherman was a soldier treating with soldiers, and deserved more courteous and considerate treatment from the government authorities, even if in his enthusiasm he had exceeded his powers. On 10 March. Sherman set out for Alexandria, Va., and arrived on the 19th. He determined then not to revisit Washington, but to await orders in camp; but he afterward, at the