On the night of April 9, a message arrived at the War Department in Washington from General-in-Chief Ulysses S. Grant: “Gen. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Va this afternoon on terms proposed by myself. The accompanying additional correspondence will show the conditions fully.”
It was generally understood that the surrender of the Confederacy’s largest army meant that the end of the war was near. As the news spread, celebrations in Washington that had begun with the fall of Richmond quickly exploded into joyous pandemonium. Lights burned in almost every window in celebration. Decorative gaslights at the U.S. Capitol blazed the message: “This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes.” A message above the entrance of the State Department building read, “At home, union is order, and order is strength; abroad, union is strength, and strength is peace.” The entrance to the Treasury building displayed, “U.S. greenbacks and U.S. Grant–Grant gives the greenbacks a metallic ring.”
Flames from gas jets at the Patent Office building entrance spelled “UNION.” Thousands gathered at the southern portico of the Patent Office to hear speeches from various politicians, including Vice President Andrew Johnson, who forcefully condemned all “rebels.” The message above the main entrance to the War Department read, “The Union must and shall be preserved.” Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton ordered the firing of a massive 500-gun salute on the morning of April 10 and responded to Grant:
“Thanks be to Almighty God for the great victory with which He has this day crowned you and the gallant armies under your command. The thanks of this department, and of the Government, and of the people of the United States–their reverence and honor have been deserved–will be rendered to you and the brave and gallant officers and soldiers of your army for all time.”
The New York Herald described the scene when word of Lee’s surrender reached New York City:
“People fairly danced in the excess of enthusiasm. To state that they howled would sound harsh and flat, but it would nevertheless be the simple truth. Huzzaing and cheering were heard, as never they were heard before. Singing also formed part of the popular mode of letting off the exuberant feelings of the masses. Down in Wall-street, a chorus, which Maretzek could never hope to rival, almost made the ancient piles of stone and brick tremble in sympathy.”
Navy Secretary Gideon Welles wrote in his diary on the night of the 10th:
“The tidings were spread over the country during the night, and the nation seems delirious with joy. Guns are firing, bells ringing, flags flying, men laughing, children cheering; all, all are jubilant. This surrender of the great Rebel captain and the most formidable and reliable army of the Secessionists virtually terminates the Rebellion. There may be some marauding, and robbing and murder by desperadoes, but no great battle, no conflict of armies, after the news of yesterday reaches the different sections. Possibly there may be some stand in Texas or at remote points beyond the Mississippi.”
But back at Appomattox Court House, much work needed to be done. A committee made up of Federal and Confederate officers discussed the details of the surrender ceremony, which was to take place on the 12th. Then, on the 10th, the parole process began and General-in-Chief Robert E. Lee requested final reports from his corps commanders on operations from March 29th up to the surrender. Lee would use this material for his final report to President Jefferson Davis.
Lee asked his aide, Colonel Charles Marshall, to draft a farewell address to the army and submit it to him by 10 a.m. When Lee learned that Marshall had been unable to meet the deadline, he ordered his aide into an ambulance, not to return until it was done. A courier then reported that Grant wanted to meet with the Confederate commander once more. Lee accepted.
The commanders met on a hill overlooking Appomattox Court House. According to Grant, “I rode out beyond our lines towards his headquarters, preceded by a bugler and a staff-officer carrying a white flag. Lee soon mounted his horse, seeing who it was, and met me.” The commanders spoke for about a half-hour, and Grant later recalled:
“I then suggested to General Lee that there was not a man in the Confederacy whose influence with the soldiery and the whole people was as great as his, and that if he would now advise the surrender of all the armies I had no doubt his advice would be followed with alacrity. But Lee said, that he could not do that without consulting the President first. I knew there was no use to urge him to do anything against his ideas of what was right.”
Brigadier-General E. Porter Alexander, Confederate artillery chief, agreed with Lee, later writing, “I think there is no doubt that Mr. Davis would have considered it a great intrusion.” Grant then asked Lee if he would be willing to go to Washington and meet with President Abraham Lincoln, but Lee did not think that would be proper. He did express opposition to “extremists on both sides,” and he assured Grant that he would devote his “whole efforts to pacifying the country and bringing the people back to the Union.” Grant was satisfied with Lee’s sincerity.
As Grant and Lee continued their discussion, Lee granted permission to Major-General Philip Sheridan and other Federal officers to go into the Confederate camps to look for old friends. The Federals soon returned with Confederate Generals James Longstreet, John B. Gordon, and Henry Heth, all of whom paid their respects to Grant. Some, particularly Longstreet, had been close friends with Grant before the war.
Meanwhile, other Federals and Confederates visited with each other at the McLean house in Appomattox. Grant later joined in and “spent an hour pleasantly” with Confederates who had been friends and West Point classmates before the war. The men mingled “very much as if all thought of the war had escaped their minds.”
Later that day, Major-General George G. Meade, commanding the Federal Army of the Potomac, met with his old friend General Lee. Meade’s aide Colonel Theodore Lyman recalled that Lee “gazed vacantly when Meade saluted him. But he recovered himself and said ‘What are you doing with all that gray in your beard?’ ‘That you have a good deal to do with!’ said our General promptly.”
Lee returned to his headquarters, where Marshall had finished the farewell address. Lee issued it as his last order, General Order Number 9:
“After four years of arduous service marked by unsurpassed courage and fortitude, the Army of Northern Virginia has been compelled to yield to overwhelming numbers and resources.
“I need not tell the brave survivors of so many hard fought battles, who have remained steadfast to the last, that I have consented to this result from no distrust of them; but feeling that valor and devotion could accomplish nothing that could compensate for the loss that must have attended the continuance of the contest. I determined to avoid the useless sacrifice of those whose past services have endeared them to their countrymen.
“By the terms of the agreement, officers and men can return to their homes and remain until exchanged. You will take with you the satisfaction that proceeds from the consciousness of duty faithfully performed; and I earnestly pray that a Merciful God will extend to you His blessing and protection.
“With an unceasing admiration of your constancy and devotion to your Country, and a grateful remembrance of your kind and generous consideration for myself, I bid you all an affectionate farewell.”
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