Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 3.djvu/594

552 On the next day, Monday, April 10th, General Lee issued, to the survivors of the famous army of Northern Virginia, the following farewell order:

Headquarters Army of Northern Virginia, April 10, 1865. After four years of arduous service, marked by unsurpassed courage and fortitude, the army of Northern Virginia has been compelled to yield to overwhelming numbers and resources.

I need not tell the survivors of so many hard-fought battles, who have remained steadfast to the last, that I have consented to this result from no distrust of them; but, feeling that valor and devotion could accomplish nothing that could compensate for the loss that would have attended the continuation of the contest, I have determined to avoid the useless sacrifice of those whose past services have endeared them to their countrymen.

By the terms of the agreement, officers and men can return to their homes and remain there until exchanged.

You will take with you the satisfaction that proceeds from the consciousness of duty faithfully performed; and I earnestly pray that a merciful God will extend to you His blessing and protection.

With an unceasing admiration of your constancy and devotion to your country, and a grateful remembrance of your kind and generous consideration of myself, I bid you an affectionate farewell. General.

General Grant, in his official report, dated July 22, 1865, said: "General Lee's great influence throughout the whole South caused his example to be followed, and to-day the result is that the armies lately under his leadership are at their homes, desiring peace and quiet, and their arms are in the hands of our ordnance officers." After congratulating his soldiers for the success of their efforts, he concluded his report in these noble words: "Let them hope for perpetual peace and harmony with that enemy whose manhood, however mistaken the cause, drew forth such herculean deeds of valor."

Leaving Maj.-Gen. John Gibbon at Appomattox, with the Fifth and Twenty-fourth army corps and McKenzie's cavalry, to complete the paroling of the surrendered army and take charge of public property, General Grant immediately ordered the rest of his army back to the vicinity of Burkeville, the junction of the Southside and the Richmond & Danville railroads. The losses of the Union army under Grant, from March 29th to April 9th, the period of the Appomattox campaign, were 10,780; numbers that attest the character of the last struggle of the army of Northern Virginia.

From "near Appomattox Court House," where he had tarried after the surrender, Gen. R. E. Lee, on the 12th