ARMY OPERATIONS. 



67 



HEADQ'RS MILITARY DIVISION or THE MISSISSIPPI, ) 

 IN THE FIELD, KALEIGH, N. C., April 14, 1365. f 

 Gen. J, E. Johnston, Commanding Confederate Army ; 



GENERAL : I have this moment received your com- 

 munication of this date. I am fully empowered to 

 arrange with you any terms for the suspension of fur- 

 ther hostilities as between the armies commanded by 

 you and those commanded by myself, and will bl 

 willing to confer with you to that end. I will limit 

 the advance of my main column to-morrow to Mor- 

 risville, and the cavalry to the University, and ex- 

 pect that you. will also maintain the present position 

 of your forces until each has notice of a failure to 

 agree. 



That a basis of action may be had, I undertake to 

 abide by the same terms and conditions as were made 

 by Gens. Grant and Lee at Appomattox Court House, 

 of the 9th instant, relative to our two armies, and, 

 furthermore, to obtain from Gen. Grant an order to 

 suspend the movements of any troops from the direc- 

 tion of Virginia. Gen. Stoneman is under my com- 

 mand, and my order will suspend any devastation or 

 destruction contemplated by him. I will add that I 

 really desire to save the people of North Carolina the 

 damages they would sustain by the march of this 

 army through the central or western parts of the 

 State. 



I a*m, with respect, your obedient servant, 



W. T. SHERMAN, Major-General. 



At the same time Gen. Sherman, addressed 

 to the Secretary of "War and Gen. Grant the 

 following .letter : 



HEADERS MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI, ) 

 IK THE FIELD, RALEIGH, N. C., April 15, 1865. j 

 Gen. U. S. Grant- and Secretary of War ; 



I send copies of correspondence with Gen. John- 

 ston to you, which I think will be followed by terms 

 of capitulation. I will grant the same terms Gen. 

 Grant gave Gen. Lee, and be careful not to compli- 

 cate any points of civil policy. If any cavalry has 

 retreated toward me, caution them to be prepared to 

 find our work done. It is now raining in torrents, 

 and I shall await Gen. Johnston's reply here, and 

 will prepare to meet him in person at Chapel Hill. 



I have invited Gov. Vance to return to Raleigh, 

 with the civil officers of his State. I have met ex- 

 Governor Graham, Messrs. Badger, Moore, Halden, 

 and others, all of whom agree that the war is over, 

 and that the States of the South must resume their 

 allegiance, subject to the Constitution and Laws of 

 Congress, and must submit to the National arms. 

 The great fact was admitted and the details are of 

 easy arrangement. 



W. T. SHERMAN, Major-General. 



On the 16th the following despatch was sent 

 to. Gen. Kilpatrick, at Durham station, and de- 

 livered by him to Gen. Sherman : 

 Major- General J. Kilpatrick, U. S. A. 



GENERAL: The General Commanding directs me to 

 arrange for a meeting between himself and Maj.-Gen. 

 Sherman. In accordance with these instructions, I 

 beg to inquire when and where this meeting can most 

 conveniently be had. I suggest ten (10) o'clock, A. M., 

 to-morrow as the hour, and a point on the Hillsboro 

 road, equidistant from the picket of your command 

 and my own, as the place for the proposed meeting. 



I am, respectfully, yours, 

 NED "WADE HAMPTON, Lieutenant-General. 



The interview which followed with Gen. 

 Johnston, five miles from Durham station, is 

 thus reported by Gen. Sherman : " I agreed to 

 meet Gen. Johnston in person at a point inter- 

 mediate between our pickets on the 17th at 

 noon, provided the position of the troops re- 

 mained statu quo. I was both willing tind 

 anxious to consume a few days, as it would 



enable Col. "Wright to finish our railroad to 

 Raleigh. Two bridges had to be built and 

 twelve miles of new roads made. "We had no 

 iron except by taking up the branch from 

 Goldsboro to "Weldon. Instead of losing by 

 time I gained in every way, for every hour of 

 delay possible was required to reconstruct the 

 railroad to our rear and improve the condition 

 of our wagon road to the front, so desirable in 

 case the negotiations failed, and we be forced 

 to make the race of near two hundred miles to 

 head off or catch Johnston, then retreating to- 

 ward Charlotte. At noon of the day appointed 

 I met Gen. Johnston for the first time in my 

 life, although we had been exchanging shots 

 continually since May, 1863. Our interview 

 was frank and soldier-like, and he gave me to 

 understand that further war on the part of the 

 Confederate troops was folly; that the 'cause' 

 was lost, and that every life sacrificed after the 

 surrender of Lee's army was the highest possi- 

 ble crime. He admitted the terms conceded to 

 Gen. Lee were magnanimous and all he could 

 ask ; but he did want some general concessions 

 that would enable him to allay the natural fears 

 and anxieties of his followers, and enable him 

 to maintain his control over them nntil they 

 could be got back to the neighborhood of their 

 homes, thereby saving the State of North Caro- 

 lina the devastation inevitably to result from 

 turning his men loose and unprovided on the 

 spot, and our pursuit across the State. He also 

 wanted to embrace in the same general propo- 

 sition the fate of all the Confederate armies that 

 remained in existence. I never made any con- 

 cessions as to his own army or assumed to deal 

 finally and authoritatively in regard to any 

 other, but it did seem to me that there was pre- 

 sented a chance for peace that might be deem- 

 ed valuable to the Government of the United 

 States, and was at least worthy the few days 

 that would be consumed in conference, and to 

 push an enemy whose commander had so frank- 

 ly and honestly confessed his inability to cope 

 with me, were cowardly and unworthy the 

 brave men I led. Inasmuch as Gen. Johnston 

 did not feel authorized to exercise power over 

 the armies in Texas, we adjourned to the next 

 day at noon. 



" I returned to Raleigh, and conferred freely 

 with all my general officers, every one of whom 

 urged me to conclude terms that might accom- 

 plish so complete and desirable an end. All 

 dreaded the necessary laborious march after a 

 fugitive and dissolving army back' toward 

 Georgia, over the very country where we had 

 toiled so long. There was but one opinion ex- 

 pressed, and, if contrary ones were entertained, 

 they were withheld, or indulged in only by that 

 class who shun the fight and the march, but are 

 loudest, bravest, and fiercest when -danger is 

 past. 



U I again met Gen. Johnston on the 18th, 

 and we resumed the conversation. He satisfied 

 me then of his power to disband the rebel armies 

 in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, 



