Transcripts For CSPAN3 The Civil War Paroling Gen. Lees Army

CSPAN3 The Civil War Paroling Gen. Lees Army After Appomattox July 13, 2024

Caroline journey is editor of the book our first speaker is dr. Caroline janney. Dr. Janney is professor of American Civil War and the john l mau center for history at the university of virginia. She was a historian also at purdue university, an active lecturer, as you might imagine. She is coeditor at the North Carolina lecture presses civil war story, has published five books, some of them listed on your program. Civil war reunion and the limits of reconciliation. She edited petersburg, appomattox, the ending of the war in virginia, and another not on the list. Her talk today is we will not surrendered parolling lees rolling lees army after appomattox. applause good afternoon. It is nice to see so many familiar faces in the audience, and i know this is the time after lunch, this is why i usually choose the morning, because i know what happens after lunch. I will try to keep you all away. Thank you, to longwood university, for hosting us. Thank you to appomattox, especially robin snyder, and i cannot say how helpful patrick has been for the last couple of years as i have been working on this new project. He has been more than generous, both professionally and personally, just a trait of the National Park service, so thank you, patrick. Yes, he does deserve an applause. applause i also want to thank two other historians in the audience whose work has been so important to mind. That is Chris Clarkson and rob wilkins. I am so appreciative of the work they have done. Lets get to appomattox. In the years since 1865, as many of you well know, appomattox has been become shorthand for the swift close to the civil war, probably by grants you term, not to be disturbed by u. S. Forces unless the broke the law, but as Major General george ah sharpe, assistant provost marshal, observed only one month after the surrender a large number of flees army were not the paroled at appomattox. Lets talk about that. Of the men evacuated after petersburg, only somewhere between 26000 and 28, 000, or to use 28,231 soldiers officially paoled at mr. Fleitz between the ninth and 12th paroled at appomattox between the ninth and 12th. A conservative estimate would suggest at least 20,000 of thes lees men were not paroled at appomattox. I have compiled a list of 16,000 soldiers from a database, who were paroled somewhere behind appomattox. Appomattox therefore creates a great irony. It was and continues to be seen as the end of lees army, and therefore the war. Discovering to those who did not surrender is the story of my talk today. We have other discoveries of ships, buildings, but i want the rediscovery of these men, why they were not there, where they were ended up, and how the war ended. Lets start with what eastman or not at appomattox. Reasons were asked varied as anything else. They were unable to keep with the relentless pace of lees army. Others had, seen the writing on the wall, even before the surrender. A good example of this was Benjamin Sams from virginia. He hasd enlisted in 1863 and has since fled. He wrote in his journal we take to the woods. Every man for himself. Unable to cross the river, he and his comrades simply went home. Like others, he felt there was little use in resisting anymore. Others made it to the field at appomattox but then decided to forgo the humiliation of surrender. Others refused to be conquered, and there we have David Mcintosh who serves as a great example. Here he is writing in his journal a little bit later, my first inclination was to stay with my command and share their fate. My reflection showed me my first and only duty was to my country, and as long as i could be of service to her, i should avoid surrender. So unable to witness what he described as a spectacle of surrender, he and several others selected a ravine protected by woods further escape. They ripped off their badges, disguised uniforms as much as possible, cut through a swamp, leaving their horses for several miles before forcing a black man to guide them south. They would make their way south, hoping to meet up with johnsons army and continue the war. A fair amount of poverty men had escaped on april 9. Recognizing a great map by the civil war trust, and they view the trust for all the work that they do, recognizing that his uncle was forced to capitulate, major lee, 2400 of the troopers would had west toward lynchburg. Lee was right the farmville, surrender himself to mead on the 11th, and get himself parol. Others never made it all the way to lynchburg. In his diary, the evening of april night, he noted that the noble army of Northern Virginia will surrender today at 10 00, and the calvary order to Buckingham Court house there to be disbanded. After hearing the news, though, hardin abandoned. He headed east, reaching his home on the Chesapeake Bay the following sunday. These are some of the men who were not there. But what about the terms . What do the terms say about men like harding, mumford, and other calvary men who had escaped and surrendered . Well come on april 10, the six commissioners that have been appointed by grant and the met to discuss the details, and here you have the three union giving the merit, and you have handled them, gordon, and long street. They discussed many different issues, but one is to to the included in the surrender. Gordon is getting rather frustrating, the term bus far had been magnanimous, and afterward, all six generals agreed that the term should include all of lees troops accept any calvary that have made its escape and any artillery more than 20 miles from appomattox courthouse at the point of surrender. Now grant too, had come to a similar conclusion, either on his own or perhaps he sees or hears about an early version of the afternoon of april, as he is riding towards brookville, he receives a telegraph from a secretary stanton asking who is to be included in the order. In particular, stanton is worried about the trips in virginia, and more specifically, he is concerned about mosby. He writes to grant were the troops operating in eastern virginia to be included in the surrender, or only those under lees immediate personal command . Grant replies the surrender was only of the men left with the pursued army at the time of surrender. Those who have escaped and wore the patch at the time are not included. So first he says they are not included, but in the very same response, we see grant being flexible in his terms. He believes, he says, that the same terms should be offered to all of the army of Northern Virginia so that they might voluntarily surrender. Generosity flowed naturally. And here is the commission agreement. We should be looking at grant here. Generosity flowed from grant, the leading commander. He is putting forth what lincoln had told him all along. He wanted it to be a lenient peace. But it is not merely generosity that motivates grant. Instead, his willingness to make the terms flexible reflect his desire to bring a swift and clear end to lees army. He knows that lees army is the centerpiece of confederate nationalism, and he wants this army to come to an end once and for all. Both grant and stanton recognize that a significant number of lees men had not surrendered at appomattox. They had either escaped or been detached. As such, on the evening of april 10, stanton, Major General winfield, stanton sends him instructions to print and circulate the surrender terms all within his rights. Stanton instructed hancock that, quote, all the attachments and stragglers from the army of Northern Virginia who turned themselves into Union Authorities would be paroled under the same conditions extended to those at appomattox, and then they would be allowed to return home. Those who did not surrender, stanton explained, would be captured and held as prisoners of war. By the following afternoon, circulars like you see before you were posted throughout the Shenandoah Valley. So these are posted throughout the lower valley, and in the newspaper, and i know you cannot see this well, but this is the kind of thing that showed up in the newspaper the very next day, a stern message from hancock about these terms. He writes in part every military restraint shall be removed that is not absolutely essential, and your sons, your husbands, and your brothers shall remain with you unmolested. But those who failed to turn themselves in, he warned, using stantons language, will be treated as prisoners. Event goes on to say every outrage committed by them will be followed by the severest infliction. It is up to you to determine the amount of freedom you are to enjoy, he declared. We are to cause here and consider the moment. People are celebrating while washington is celebrating the surrender of these army. In places like the valley, it is still very uncertain what this means. Does this mean the war is coming to an end . What about all of the men out of bear on attached to lees main army . Were goes out to washington, two other Union Commanders throughout the region. It is the same conditions, the same terms as appomattox needed to be offered everywhere here so along the northern neck, norfolk, Union Officers are charged with offering the same terms are often attached parties and stragglers, no differentiation is to be main, who comply with these surrender will be allowed to go home. And again, this morning follow some of those who did not will be captured and held as prisoners of war. Underscoring all of this was grants fear of continued guerrilla warfare. Grant hoped that all the rebels would soon lay down their guns, including partisan rangers. And perhaps it was his conversation with lee on the morning of april 10 that had given him some pause or had swayed his thinking. Grant recalled in his memoirs that lee is pointed out that the southwest and great country, and we may have some left over three or four times before the war entirely ended. Grant was thinking about this. If all those men did not lay down their arms, would they regroup . With favorite join with forces like mosby, other socalled guerrillas . Even with the surrender of 28,000 men at appomattox, maybe this war would not be over. Indeed, there were those confederates who believed this to be the case, who believed well after april 9 that there might be another chance, that there might be other opportunities. Many of those who fled appomattox or word attached remained determined to carry on the fact. Among them thomas munford, kam chamberlain, David Mcintosh, john mosby, and others, many of them who would make their way from North Carolina, trying to join up with joe jonson and his forces. That is a story for another time or i want to spend the rest of my talk today talking about those men who did you go on grant pick up on grants offer. Thousands of lees men would complete the surrender that began at appomattox. Here is a map to show us well we are. April 10, lieutenant thaddeus l barker began issuing paroles here. From his headquarters on main street, barker rolled at least paroled at least 2384 men. Who were those men . As of april 11, barker is rolling these men. Nearly 600 of those paroled at farm bill had been patients at the hospital. Some of them only admitted days earlier. But many were ablebodied men whose units had been at appomattox at the morning of april 9. They came from nearly every confederate state in the army. Virginia, North Carolina, south carolina, georgia, maryland, tennessee, and they arrived here in farmville where they were given the same condition that remain at appomattox. You can see the red circle on my map. In lynchburg where thousands, well, somewhere around 2000 calvary men had fled, many of them were still there, many of them had dispursed, but there was still a significant number that were in lynchburg, and they, too, offer themselves up to the federal calvary once Union Soldiers came to town. April 12 and april 13, u. S. Authorities issued approximately 5000 paroles in lynchburg. Unlike farmville, where soldiers had shown up pretty much as individuals, those who surrendered in lynchburg did so as units, a fact not lost on union Major General mackenzie. Quite a number, he reported, surrendered intercompany organizations. A few examples of this. 30 members of the louisianabased washington artillery had surrendered at appomattox, 30 members. On april 13, at least 42 men battalion in lynchburg. 60 members of lynchburgs own battery. 21 men from baltimore light artilery. 39 men from the 11th virginia, all units to have been present on the morning of april 9 at appomattox. At burkeville, though, a key junction on the richman and denver railroads, the marshall reported 1614 names in a threeday period stretching from april 14th through april 17th. Burkeville proved to be a favorite site, because if you showed up there, not only will it be possible, not guaranteed, but possible that you can catch a ride to petersburg, but you might also get some rations. Some men who showed up here are doing so because they realize that is their opportunity to get home faster and to get some rations. Here in burkeville they also come in as units. They made their way to the key Railroad Junction in order to get the papers that they would need in order to get them home. And then, on april 14, that evening, lincoln, as you all know, was assassinated. Contrary to what we might think or even expect, rather than suspending the paroling process, lincolns assassination made it all the more pressing that the remnants of lees army who had not surrendered willingly do so. The dispersal of lees army had inflamed roving bands and marauders, even the dispersal that happened after they even asked what does it mean to send tens of thousands of men across the countryside. They were worried about marauders, about partisan warfare continuing. In the wake of lincolns assassination, these fears were only heightened. Lots and lots of examples of soldiers fear, because you have extended these terms, now look what has not changed the unions high command, though. Instead of ending paroling, they ramp up paroling, across the Shenandoah Valley, counties across richmond, the u. S. Calvary is sent out, looking for stragglers, looking for men who had not been paroled. Back in the valley, in winchester, hancock recognized that hundreds, if not thousands, of lees men had taken to the hills and the hamlets of Shenandoah Valley without paroles. His announcement on april 10, offering the same terms as those given on appomattox, had already convinced at least 35 meant by april 14 to come turn themselves in at winchester. They were go into the town of winchester where they went seek out the marshall and sign their individual parole. But the possibility of assassins heightened the sense of urgency. Hancock is riding back and forth, and hallock say do not let anyone into your lines, and he said wait, we have to parole all of these men. We have to encourage them to come in, and he had reports that some of them would come in, so are these men are going to continue to seek out paroles . What and cut does as he is waiting for a response from hallock, although i am not sure he cares what hallock had to say, now instead of just reporting the names of the individuals, the company, and the regiment, and i wish you could see this better. Here is a scanned version, slightly darker, we look at the paroles that take place in the valley. He constructs his cohost marshals to contain not only the name but a physical description, age, height, first complexion, hair and eye color. This is wonderful information for people doing genealogical research. Most of these are in the house records. This is how the provost marshals would have kept their record, and we can fight out so much about what these men looked like. I have wondered why this type of information would shows up. And i do not know this for sure, but perhaps this would be in confirming paroles or perhaps more ominously identifying those who had been perhaps involved in the assassination. If some men willingly sought out paroles, others found themselves hunted down. So rather than waiting for people to come to winchester, and cap sent them up and down looking for units and the stragglers to make their way into jackson on the morning of april 18. Here, Union Troopers paroled 20 members of the company d jefferson calvary. The next day, 24 men from the first calvary were paroled in new market. In short, in the wake of the assassination, word continues to spread among confederates that hancocks men would be willing to parole any man who gave himself up. From his home in stanton, the as yet unparoled mapmaker Jedediah Hotchkiss says many men are going to be parol. He holds out. The reason why is unclear. Within a week, at least 1793 men had been paroled in the valley, including the vast majority of mosbys 34 battalion. The vast majority turn themselves in at winchester april 22, the day after mosby had abandoned his command. He does not. He takes off south. A great many of his men do. While remnants of lees army streamed into federal posts in small towns and throughout the countryside, they gushed into richmond. Here is a sketch of men crossing one of the pontoon bridges. Here is the customs house, where hatchet establishes base. Even before april 14, lees men are coming into richmond, seeking paroles. Most of these men are virginians. This chart, i am not sure if you can read this, it breaks out men from the regiment. 76 from the third virginia infantry, 52 from the third virginia calgary, 51 from the these are units, not one or two men coming in at a time. They are wearing the ninth virginia calvary. I would like to thank the family who sent me this picture. They had him in the database. There he is, he turned himself in, and we can now put a face with his name. But it is not just virginians who are turning themselves in enrichment. Fragments of regiments from North Carolina, georgia, louisiana, florida, south carolina, mississippi, and elsewhere. Surrenders were going on throughout virginia in the rest of april. On april 21 and 22nd, more than 500 men surrendered themselves at the headquarters in virginia. Most of these men belonged to the fifth and 13 virginia calvary. Units organized in the surrounding princess and, appomattox, as well as norfolk city. These are proba

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