Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 15.djvu/27

 INTRODUCTION. XXVII

tilities until these terms could be arranged. In the interview which occurred with General Grant, in compliance with my request, terms having been agreed on, I surrendered that portion of the Army of Northern Virginia which was on the field, with its arms, artillery and wagon trains, the officers and men to be paroled, retaining their side- arms and private effects. I deemed this course the best under all the circumstances by which we were surrounded. On the morning of the oth, according to the reports of the ordnance officers, there were seven thou- sand eight hundred and ninety -two (7,892) organized infantry with arms, with an average of seventy-five (75) rounds of ammunition per man. The artillery, though reduced to sixty-three (63) pieces, with ninety-three (93) rounds of ammunition, was sufficient. These comprised all the supplies of ordnance that could be relied on in the State of Virginia. I have no accu- rate report of the cavalry, but believe it did not exceed twenty -one hun- dred (2,100) effective men. The enemy was more than five times our num- bers. If we could have forced our way one day longer, it would have been at a great sacrifice of life, and at its end I did not see how a surrender could have been avoided. We had no subsistence for man or horse, and it could not be gathered in the country. The supplies ordered to Pamplin's sta- tion from Lvnchburg could not reach us, and the men, deprived of food and sleep for many days, were worn out and exhausted. With great respect, your obedient servant.

(Signed) R. E. LEE, General.

On his way to Richmond, which he reached on the I2th of April, General Lee stopped for the night near the residence of his brother, Charles Carter Lee, of Powhatan county, and, although importuned by his brother to pass the night under his roof, the General persisted in pitching his tent by the side of the road* and going into camp as usual. This continued self-denial may be only explained upon the hypothesis that he desired to have his men know that he shared their privations to the very last.t

that of Mr. John Gilliam (whose farm adjoined that of Mr. Lee), a more ele- vated and desirable site.
 * This was not immediately in front of the residence of his brother, but of

f Taylor's Four Years with General Lee, page 154.