ARMY OPERATIONS. 



75 



enough to fill our wagons, we again began a march, 

 which for peril, labor, and results, will compare with 

 any ever made by an organized army. The floods of 

 the Savannah, the swamps of the Combahee and 

 Edisto, the high hills and rocks of the Santee, the 

 flat quagmires of the Pedee and Cape Fear Rivers, 

 were all passed in midwinter, with its floods and rains, 

 in the face of an accumulating enemy ; and after the 

 battles of Averysboro and Bentonville we once more 

 came out of the wilderness to meet our friends at 

 Goldsboro. Even then we paused only long enough 

 to get new clothing, to reload our wagons, and again 

 pushed on to Raleigh, and beyond, until we met our 

 enemy, sueing for peace instead of war, and offering 1 ' 

 to submit to the injured laws of his and our country. 

 As long as that enemy was defiant, nor mountains, 

 nor rivers, nor swamps, nor hunger, nor cold, had 

 checked us ; but when he who had fought us hard 

 and persistently offered submission, your General 

 thought it wrong to pursue him further, and negoti- 

 ations followed which resulted, as you all know, in 

 his surrender. How far the operations of the army 

 have contributed to the overthrow of the Confederacy, 

 of the peace which now dawns on us, must be judged 

 by others, not by us. But that you have done all 

 that men could do has been admitted by those in au- 

 thority; and we have a right to join in the universal 

 joy that fills our land because the war is over, and 

 our Government stands vindicated before the world 

 by the joint action of the volunteer armies of the 

 United States. 



To such as remain in the military service your 

 General need only remind you that successes in the 

 past are due to hard work and discipline, and that 

 the same work and discipline are equally important 

 in the future. To such as go home, he will only say, 

 that our favored country is so grand, so extensive, 

 so diversified in climate, soil, and productions, that 

 every man niay surely find a home and occupation 

 suite'd to his tastes; and none should yield to the 

 natural impotence sureto result from our past life of 

 excitement and adventure. You will be invited to 

 seek new adventure abroad; but do not yield to the 

 temptation, for it will lead only to death and disap- 

 pointment. 



Your General now bids you all farewell, with 

 the full belief that, as in war you have been good 

 soldiers, so in peace you will make good citizens; 

 and if, unfortunately, new war should arise in our 

 country, Sherman's Army will be the first to buckle 

 on the old armor and come forth to defend and main- 

 tain the Government of our inheritance and choice. 



By order of Major-General W. T. SHERMAN. 



L. M. DAYTON, Assistant Adjutant-General. 



At a later date Lieut.-Gen. Grant issued the 

 following address to all the armies : 



General Orders No. 108. 



WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT-GENEKAL'S OFFICE, I 

 WASHINGTON, D. C., June 2, 1865. ) 

 Soldiers of the Armies of the United, States ; 



By your patriotic devotion to your country in the 

 hour of danger and alarm, your magnificent fighting, 

 bravery, and endurance, you have maintained the 

 supremacy of the Union and the Constitution, over- 

 thrown all armed opposition to the enforcement of 

 the laws and of the proclamations forever abolishing 

 slavery the cause and pretext of the rebellion and 

 opened the way to the rightful authorities to restore 

 order and inaugurate peace on a permanent and en- 

 during basis on every foot of American soil. Your 

 marches, sieges, and battles, in distance, duration, 

 resolution, and brilliancy of results, dim the lustre 

 of the world's past military achievements, and will 

 be the patriot's precedent in defence of liberty and 

 right in all time to come. In obedience to your 

 country's call you left your homes and families and 

 volunteered in its defence. Victory has crowned 

 your valor, and secured the purpose of your patriotic 

 hearts ; and with the gratitude of your countrymen 



and the highest honors a great and free nation can 

 accord, you will soon be permitted to return to your 

 homes and families, conscious of having discharged 

 the highest duty of American citizens. To achieve 

 these glorious triumphs and secure to yourselves, 

 your fellow-countrymen, and posterity the blessings 

 of free institutions, tens of thousands of your gallant 

 comrades have fallen and sealed the priceless legacy 

 with their lives. The graves of these a grateful na- 

 tion bedews with tears, honors their memories, and 

 will ever cherish and support their stricken families. 

 U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant-General. 



On May 5th an order was issued by Gen. 

 Halleck, in command of the James Eiver, de- 

 claring that all persons found in arms after 

 May 26, against the authority of the United 

 States in Virginia or North Carolina, would be 

 treated as robbers and outlaws. A similar order 

 was subsequently issued by the War Depart- 

 ment, to be enforced in all States east of the 

 Mississippi River. This caused the disband- 

 ment of all guerrilla organizations : 



On April 29th the President issued the fol- 

 lowing proclamation : 



EXECUTIVE CHAMBER, WASHINGTON. April 29, 1S65. 



Being desirous to relieve all loyal citizens and well- 

 disposed persons residing in the insurrectionary 

 States from unnecessary commercial restrictions, 

 and to encourage them to return to peaceful pursuits, 

 it is hereby ordered : 



1. That all restrictions upon internal, domestic, 

 and coastwise commercial intercourse be discon- 

 tinued in such part of the States of Tennessee, Yir- 



finia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, 

 lorida, Alabama. Mississippi, and so much of Louisi- 

 ana as lies east of the Mississippi River, as shall be 

 embraced within the lines of the national military 

 occupation, excepting only such restrictions as are 

 imposed by the acts of Congress, and regulations in 

 pursuance thereof prescribed by the Secretary of the 

 Treasury, and approved by the President, and ex- 

 cepting also from the effect of this order the fol- 

 lowing articles, contraband of war, to wit: Arms, 

 ammunition, and all articles from which ammunition 

 is manufactured ; gray uniforms and cloth, locomo- 

 tives, cars, railroaairon and machinery for operating 

 railroads, telegraph wires, insulators, and instru- 

 ments for operating telegraph lines. 



2. All existing military and naval orders in any 

 manner restricting internal, domestic, and coastwise 

 commercial intercourse and trade with or in the lo- 

 calities above named, be and the same are hereby re- 

 voked, and that no military or naval officer in any 

 manner interrupt or interfere with the same, or with 

 any boats or other vessels engaged therein under 

 proper authority pursuant to the regulations of the 

 Secretary of the Treasury. ANDREW JOHNSON. 



In relation to prisoners of war those who had 

 been delivered on parole to Federal officers 

 were declared exchanged, and those confined in 

 the Southern States were released. The fol- 

 lowing orders were issued by the War Depart- 

 ment respecting Confederate prisoners : 



WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, May 7, 1S65. 



Ordered That all prisoners of war, except officers 

 above the rank of colonel, who, before the capture 

 of Richmond, signified their desire to take the oath 

 of allegiance to the United States and their unwill- 

 ingness to be exchanged, be forewith released on 

 their taking said oath, and transportation furnished 

 them to their respective homes. 



In respect to all other prisoners of war, further 

 orders will be issued. 



The Commissary-General of Prisoners will issue 

 the necessary regulations for preserving the requisite 



