He is also the winner of the that particular book won the Samuel Elliott morrison award. E is the author of lincoln and his admirals which won the lincoln prize in 2009. In recognition of his extraordinary contribution, the naval historicle foundation in 2014 awarded him the congressman duredudly w. Knox history award for lifetime achievement. Professor John Mars Lak is william s. Giles distinguished Professor Emeritus of Mississippi State university came out of retirement in 2008 and accepted the task of serving as executive director of the uelills sis s grant president ial library and managing editors. He is the tautsdzer of a dozen books. Incheweding sherman. And shermans other war. His honors include an excellence in writing award from the u. S. Army historicle oundation. As testament to the high regard in which he is held, several of his students contributed to an editted volume titled, of times and race. Ees says inspired. I was honored to have the opportunity to contribute the final essay to that volume. In addition to the great scholarship of these two men, they are known for having married well. Something they shared with lincoln. Their better halves rf two women that i admire deeply and that i am sure that all of you would join me in that same sentiment. Their husband will discuss johnston and sherman the two surrenders. [applause] what a perfect introduction. Thank you. Thats great. John and i are delighted to be back here at the lincoln forum. Those of you who know us even a little bit will not be surprise today hear last night we had an opportunity to get together and consume some wine. And in the midst of that conversation, fueled by wine we were talking about how we were both terribly jealous of ron chernow whose biography of hamilton inspired a very lucrative musical on broadway. So we thought how appropriate thank you. Thats great. Ohn and i are delighted to be it would be to have joseph e. Johnston the musical. Or william t. Sherman the musical or the one that really inspired us was henry wager halek the musical. As you see on the screen here and youll be delighted to hear, this is not going to be a musical presentation today. Instead, alas, it is a tragedy n three acts. Act one. On april 17, 1865, which is a full week after lee surrendered to grant at appomattox as we just heard a few moments ago, joseph e. Johnston and william t. Sherman met in the front yard of a small farm owned by james and Nancy Bennett near durham station, North Carolina. Here is what that farm house looks like today. And here is the newspaper engraving of the imagined meeting between these two generals and here is a modern ainting by dan nance and how he imagined that. However it looked, let us imagine the moment. It had been four years and five days since the war began. And since then these two men had spent a lot of that time, each of them thinking about the other. Wondering what plans lurked inside the active brain of his opponent. For two and a half months in the spring and summer of 1864, they had dueled one another in north georgia in what was called a red clay minuet, each striving to gain an advantage, each failing to do so, until a frustrated and impatient Jefferson Davis replaced johnston with John Bell Hood. They had fought again only two weeks before this meeting near bentonville, North Carolina, in another strategically indecisive engagement. Now, with lees army already having surrendered in virginia, they met face to face for the first time ever. With an opportunity to end the war. And at least as important to establish a foundation for the peace that would follow. Their conversation could well have much to do with what reconstruction would look like and how or even if the country recovered from its wounds. What is not evident in this painting is the amount of baggage that each man brought with him to the meeting. Not literal baggage but etaphorical baggage. My job here in this first segment of this tag Team Presentation is to detail some of the personal, professional, and political baggage that johnston brought to this meeting. After Jefferson Davis dismissed joe johnston from his command in july of 1864 the old general went into what amounted to retirement in columbia, South Carolina. Where the diarist mary chestnut was living. She noted johnston and his friends were bitter about their dismissal, bitter at davis, bitter at John Bell Hood whose subsequent defense of atlanta was a disastrous failure and whose quixotic campaign into ennessee was even more catastrophic resulting in the virtual destruction of the army of tennessee outside nashville. Of course, if johnstons supporters blamed that catastrophe on davis and on hood, those two men and many others as well blamed johnston, whose constant withdrawals in georgia had in their view taken the fighting spirit out of the army of tennessee before John Bell Hood ever got ahold of it. The error, as they saw it, was not that johnston was dismissed but that he had been kept too long in command. The mutual bitterness was palatable. The observeant mary chestnut wrote in her diary, we thought his was a struggle for independence. Now it seems it is only a fight between joe johnston and jeff davis. Of course columbia, South Carolina was no safe haven. For sherman, advancing north from savannah, had it squarely in is sights. As sherman headed north, the Confederate Congress in richmond, the members of which were as disgusted with davis as johnston was, virtually rebelled against the administration bypassing a law that appointed robert e. Lee by name as commanderinchief of all confederate armies. Never mind the fact that the confederate constitution gave that title to the president. Moreover, that same act called upon the president to appoint joseph e. Johnston again by name to command what was left of the army of tennessee. It was a deliberate slap in the face to Jefferson Davis, and while davis happily appointed lee to the top command he refused to appoint joe johnston to anything. Instead writing that johnston was in his words deficient in enterprise, tardy in movement, defective in preparation, and singularly neglectful of the duty of preserving our means of supply and transportation. Then he did it anyway. It was lee who convinced him that if nothing else the popular johnston who was very much loved by the soldiers, might convince some of those who had desserted to return to the colors. Johnstons first instinct was to refuse the appointment. He suspected this was another of daviss tricks putting him back in command just so he would be the one to bear the historical burden of making the final surrender. But just as lee had talked davis into making the appointment he also convinced johnston to accept it. Others told johnston that lee now hated davis as much as he did, which was not true, and that lee still had confidence in his old friend and west point classmate, which was rue. So in that new job, johnston fought only one battle, the one at bentonville. It was indecisive. But in johnstons view, it proved that the men of the army of tennessee could still fight. That disproved all the things that hood had been saying about how the men of the army of tennessee had forgotten how to be soldiers. Nevertheless it was obvious to johnston that any further fighting now after appomattox was useless. A week after bentonville and lees surrender at appomattox he and most of the men in his rmy believed the war was over. In the second week of april he traveled to see davis who was now heading southward from richmond having evacuated the confederate capital in a train to tell him so. They met in a railroad car near greensberg, North Carolina on april 12. Davis sitting at a small desk surrounded by what was left of his cabinet. I dont have an image of that. Here is davis sitting at a desk. So this will have to do. Johnston told the president our people are tired of the war. They feel themselves whipped, and will not fight. Davis was fiddling with a piece of paper he was holding in his hand, turning it over, folding it, unfolding it. Did not even look up. To look at johnston in the face. But after a brief pause he said, well, general johnston, what do you propose . That was the opening johnston needed. He asked permission to arrange an armistice that would, this is now quoted material, permit the civil authorities to enter into the needful arrangements to terminate the existing war. Davis hesitated. Then he said, well, sir, you can adopt that course, though i confess i am not sanguine as to ultimate results. With that grudging assent, johnston then invited sherman to the meeting at the Bennett House five days later. Now lets hear what may have been on shermans mind when he greeted johnston at the Bennett House. I think youve all seen this picture before. It is the worst picture ever taken of sherman, and he hated it. He didnt want to have his picture taken. T is a picture of that period. Sherman as you know took atlanta in september of 1864, but at that time he showed no interest in crushing the army of confederate general John Bell Hood, who, as craig pointed out, was joe johnsons replacement. I do not wish to waste lives by an assault. He quickly sent word to henry w. Halek who was chief of staff in washington, atlanta is ours and fairly won. The civil war as we know was bitterly fought, but shermans decision not to destroy hood and his army in atlanta was a clear indication of something. Just what this mans attitude was toward the confederacy and its people. Sherman simply did not want to go into go back into fighting a war of maim and blood. But he couldnt remain in atlanta. He had to do something. O he planned and this took place over a period of time to institute a new form of warfare, to institute destructive war against the confederacy. And how was he going to do that . By marching to the sea. Lincoln and grant were not in favor of this, but sherman quickly wore them down, began his march from atlanta to the sea, on november 14, 1864. One of the things i want to point out if you remember nothing else about my part of it, i know youll remember everything craig said. But my part of it, i want you to remember that this is not an example of shermans work. He did not burn atlanta down. He didnt do it. We can talk about it afterwards if youd like. But the lost cause would have us believe thats what happened. This was actually created by John Bell Hood when he set fire o atlanta. He set fire to ammunition of atlanta and explosions happened and all the rest. Anyway, he didnt destroy everything despite what gone with the wind has to say. There you have gone with the wind. Nor, as legend would have it, sherman did not burn every home between atlanta and the ocean. It simply didnt happen. He did, however, march through georgia, and he arrived at savannah on december 21. From there, he sent a message to lincoln, i beg to present to you as a Christmas Gift the city of savannah. All kinds of newspapers talked about our union santa claus. As was the case with hood in atlanta, sherman now had to deal with confederate general illiam hardee. But, again, he refused to cut off his escape. Rather, he consciously, specifically, left open an exit so hardee could get away and sherman would not have to fight him in the trenches. And when shermans army entered savannah, the soldiers, his soldiers, shermans soldiers were on their best behavior. Previously they had taken or destroyed anything they wanted. Now they paid for everything they took. Well, what happened . As long as they held out, hed fight them without mercy. As soon as southerners quit the war he would as he phrased it ecome the souths best friend. Hus, he is not going to try to destroy hood or hardee or atlanta or savannah. E is going to institute what comes to be known as a soft piece for the hard war hes been demonstrating in georgia. Well, lets face it. The war is hardly over at this particular point when sherman ets to savannah. Grant now wants sherman to come to virginia. Ends him a letter. There is a letter waiting for sherman. Come to virginia and help me finish off robert e. Lee. Well, sherman fought against that idea because he did not want to participate in such killing again. Nstead, and they worked this out, he headed north into the carolinas and another example of destructive, psychological warfare. This time he particularly punished South Carolina because he and his soldiers blamed South Carolina for starting the war. But, interestingly, he was less harsh on North Carolina, which, as you know, was very slow in seceding and had been much less enthusiastic about secession nd battle and war. So sherman and his troops are now marching through the carolinas and what joe johnston says is one of the most impressive military feats since julius caesar. In fact, what happens is, a figure from shermans past reappears. Guess who that is . That is craigs hero, joe johnston. Now, craig pointed out that Jefferson Davis had fired johnston just before the fall of atlanta, and he also pointed out that now davis had to swallow his pride and bring johnston back. Why would he do that . Well, he had no choice. After george h. Thomas destroyed John Bell Hood and his army of tennessee at nashville in december, 1864, there is no confederate general left to attle sherman except for joseph e. Johnson. So johnston takes over what is left of the Confederate Army in the carolinas, and he gives sherman, as we heard, a momentary scare at bentonville. Hen he had to fall back before the surging yankees. Well, sherman felt that he had done the right thing. He believed that his destructive war was a more direct way to get to the desired end of ending this civil war, defeating the confederacy, restoring the union. He certainly did not want to get back into the meat grinder of war. But whats going to happen now . Hes in carolina. Joe johnston is back again. Well, craigs already told us. Sherman receives a letter from joe johnston requesting a meating between the two of them. Nd just before he leaves for that getting ready to leave for that meeting, is sherman, a subordinate hands him a telegraph that is just arrived from washington. End of act one. Act wo. The two men arrived at the designated meeting place. They dismounted. Shook hands. And leaving their respective entourages outside, they went together into the bennetts small farm house. Ow, unlike lee and grant and the maclean house, we saw several images, you have all seen images of that, there were no adrianza, no staff members. Just the two of them, together, in this small, rustic cabin. Once they were inside, sherman took out of his pocket the telegram that he had been handed just as he was leaving for the meeting and showed it to joe johnston. So far he had shown it to no one else. T stated two days before Abraham Lincoln had been assassinated in washington, d. C. Johnston looked up at sherman with horror and declared it was the greatest possible calamity for the south. E said he hoped that sherman did not think the south had any hand in such an act. Sherman replied he was confident that the rebel army had nothing to do with it, but he would not say the same about Jefferson Davis and his government. To which johnston made no reply. With that cloud hanging over their heads, they got down to business. Sherman offered johnston the same terms that grant had offered to lee at appomattox. Johnston acknowledged that the terms were, in fact, generous, but he suggested that perhaps they could go further and arrange the terms of a permanent peace. Sherman replied to that by asking if johnston had the authority to make such an agreement. It was a good question. Davis had told johnston that he could enter into discussions to, permit the civil authorities to enter into the needful arrangements to terminate the existing war. In fact, davis had dictated that phrase himself. But what davis had meant, and johnston knew this, was that johnston had permission to convince the union to agree to southern independence. Which was why he had expressed so little optimism about the outcome. What johnston now tried to do instead was conclude a peace hat would reunite the country. Of course, as a general commanding an army in the field, johnston did not and could not represent the civil authorities. Sherman pointed that out to him. But johnston noted that john c. Reckenridge was scheduled to arrive that very afternoon and breckenridge was both a former Vice President of the United States and currently the secretary of war in the confederate government, and he, johnston said, could represent the civil authorities. I had to put this up because of the mustache. That posed a problem for sherman, because he was prescribed from entering into a negotiation with a representative of what lincoln was always careful to describe as the socalled confederate government. He pointed this out to johnston and johnston replied, well, yes, thats true, but breckenridge is also a Major General in the Confederate Army, as we see him here in his confederate uniform. So sherman could treat with him in that capacity. Of course, if breckenridge was merely a general in the Confederate Army, it was not clear how he was supposed to represent the civil authorities. Still, anxious for the blood letting to stop, sherman agreed to meet with both men the next day. Its hard to tell who was being more duplicitous here, johnston for implying that the confederate government was willing to end the war, when he knew that davis wanted to fight on to the bitter end, or sherman for using the figure leaf of breckenridges commission as a Major General to enter into negotiations with a member of the confederate government. But both men wanted peace. And they calculated that stretching the letter of their instructions was worth