FREE ESSAY ON THE FINAL MONTHS OF THE CIVIL WAR

THE FINAL MONTHS OF THE CIVIL WAR

The Final Months of the Civil War
The Civil War was one of momentous proportion. It was disastrous in terms of human life,
because more Americans died in this war that any other war in history. This paper is
mainly about and around those involved on the battlefield in the final months of the
civil war. It will also refer to the leading men behind the Union and Confederate
forces.
The war was coming to an end by January of 1865. At that time, Federal, Union, armies
were spread throughout the Confederacy and the Confederate Army had greatly shrunk in
size. The year before the North had suffered a huge loss of lives, but had more than
enough to lose in comparison to the South. General Ulysses S. Grant became known as the
"Butcher" and many wanted him removed. (Grant, Ulysses S., Personal Memoirs of U. S.
Grant. New York: Charles L. Webster & Co., 1894.) The war continued as Lincoln stood firm
with his General. This paper will cover the events between the winter of 1864-1865 and
the surrender of the Confederate States of America and will show that April 9, 1865 was
indeed the end of a great tragedy.
General William T. Sherman and his army cleared the civilian population of the city of
Atlanta in September of 1864, then took a brief rest. It was from Atlanta that General
Sherman and his army began the famous "march to the sea". The great march was 400 miles
long and 60 miles wide. No news was heard of Sherman for 32 days. His men lived on
whatever they could get from the area of the country through which they passed, as
Sherman had cut himself off from his base and any supplies. Although, the army destroyed
anything and everything that was in their path, they were not seen as the enemy. In view
of this destruction, it is understandable that Sherman quoted, "War is hell!" (Sherman,
William T., Memoirs of General William T. Sherman. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press,
1972.) Sherman's men reached the city of Savannah on December 20, and from there Sherman
telegraphed to President Lincoln: "I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of
Savannah, with 150 heavy guns and plenty of ammunition, and also about 25,000 bales of
cotton." (Sherman, William T., Memoirs of General William T. Sherman. Westport,
Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1972.)
Grant's decision that the only way to win and finish the war was to crunch with numbers.
He knew that the federal forces held more than a modest advantage in terms of men and
supplies. Grant directed Sherman to turn around and head back toward Virginia with this
in mind. He immediately began making preparations to provide assistance to Sherman on the
journey. General John M. Schofield and his men had just defeated the Confederates in
Nashville and were to disengage from the Army of the Cumberland and then proceed toward
North Carolina. His final destination was to be Goldsboro which was roughly half the
distance between Savannah and Richmond. He was to meet Sherman and his troops of 50,000
there with his troop of 20,000.
Sherman began moving north in mid January of 1865. The only hope of Confederate
resistance would be supplied by General P. G. T. Beauregard. He was putting together an
army with every means possible but was only able to assemble about 30,000 men. This would
be no challenge to the combined forces of Schofield and Sherman. Sherman's plan was to
march through South Carolina while confusing the opponent the entire time. His men would
march in two ranks. One would travel northwest to give the impression of a press against
Augusta, and the other would march northeast toward Charleston. 
Sherman's force arrived in Columbia on February 16. Great controversary arose as the city
was burned to the ground. The Confederates claimed that Sherman's men had set the fires
"deliberately, systematically, and atrociously". Sherman claimed that the fires were
already burning when they had arrived. Cotton bales were set on fire by the Confederate
Calvary to prevent the Federal Army from getting to them and the high winds quickly
spread the fire. The controversary was short lived as no proof was ever presented. After
Columbia, Charleston and Augusta had fallen, Sherman continued his move north toward
Goldsboro. His progress was delayed not by the Confederate army but by the runaway
slaves. The slaves joined the Union columns. They numbered in the thousands by the time
they had reached North Carolina. (Barrett, John G., Sherman's March through the
Carolinas. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1956.) Sherman's force
pushed on and finally met up with Schofield in Goldsboro on March 23rd. 
Immediately leaving Goldsboro, Sherman was to travel to City Point to meet Grant and
discuss plans of an attack. Upon arriving, not only did he find Grant, but Admiral David
Porter as well. They would all wait to meet with President Lincoln. The three soldiers
met with Lincoln on the morning of March 28th on the river boat "River Queen" to discuss
a strategy against General Lee and General Johnston of the Confederate Army. Lincoln
asked several times, "Can't this last battle be avoided?" (Angle and Miers. Tragic Years,
II.) However, both Generals expected the Rebels, Confederate Soldiers, to put up at least
one more fight. All were sure of a surrender, it was to be decided how to handle the
Rebels in regard to the upcoming surrender. Lincoln made his intentions very clear: "I am
full of bloodshed. You need to defeat the opposing armies and get the men composing those
armies back to their homes to work on their farms and in their shops." (Sherman, William
T., Memoirs of General William T. Sherman. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1972.) The
meeting lasted for a number of hours. Near the end of the meeting Lincoln made his orders
clear, "Let them once surrender and reach their homes, they won't take up arms again.
They will at once be guaranteed all their rights as citizens of a common country. I want
no one punished, treat them liberally all around. We want those people to return to their
allegiance to the Union and submit to the laws." (Porter, David D., Campaigning with
Grant. New York: The Century Co., 1897.) The Generals and Admirals now knew what had to
be done. Sherman returned to Goldsboro by steamer and Grant and Porter left by train to
go back up north. Sherman's course would be to continue north with Schofield's men and
meet Grant in Richmond. This would not happen as Lee would surrender to Grant before
Sherman could ever get there.
General Grant returned to his troops which were in the process of besieging Petersburg
and Richmond. These battles had been going on for months. Before the meeting with
President Lincoln, on March 24, Grant drew up a new plan for a flanking movement against
the Confederates right below Petersburg. This would be the first large scale operation to
take place and would begin five days later. Two days after Grant had made preparations to
move again, Lee had assessed the situation and informed President Davis that Richmond and
Petersburg were doomed. Lee's only chance wold be to move his troops out of Richmond down
a southwestern path. They were to meet with General Johnston's forces. Johnston had been
dispatched to Virginia after being ordered not to resist the advance of Sherman's Army.
Lee chose a meeting point to the west, in the small town of Amelia Court House. He made a
narrow escape. The soldiers could see Richmond burning as they made their way across the
James River and to the west. Grant had finally broken through. Richmond and Petersburg
were finished on the second day of April.
President Lincoln visited the fallen city of Richmond after a brief visit to Petersburg
on April 4th. He arrived by boat with his son, Tad, and was led ashore by no more than
twelve armed sailors. The city had not yet been secured by Federal forces. Lincoln had
barely stepped out of the boat as former slaves began crowding around him singing
praises. Lincoln proceeded to join with General Godfrey Weitzel, who had been placed in
charge of the occupation of Richmond, and took his headquarters in Jefferson Davis' old
residence. When he arrived there, he and Tad took an extensive tour of the residence and
discovered Weitzel was not there. Some of the soldiers remarked that Lincoln had a boyish
expression and no one was sure what he was thinking as he sat in Davis' office. When
Weitzel arrived he asked the President what to do with the conquered people. Lincoln
replied that he no longer gave direction in military manners, but went on to say, "If I
were in your place, I'd let 'em up easy, let 'em up easy." (Johnson, Robert Underwood,
and Clarence Clough Buel, eds., Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. Vol. 4. New York:
The Century Co.,1887.) 
With the Federals hot on their rears, Lee's forces were headed west toward Amelia. Lee
had asked the Commissary Department of the Confederacy to store food in Amelia before
leaving Richmond. The troops rushed there in anticipation, but were very disappointed in
what they found. There was an abundance of ammnuition and ordinance, but not a single
bite of food. Lee had to move his nearly starving troops out immediately because he could
not afford to give up his lead over the advancing Federals. Headed for Farmville, where
Lee had been informed there was an abundance of bacon and cornmeal, they continued
westward hoping to join with Johnston eventually. The Confederate forces reached
Farmville but several skirmishes took place along the way as some Federal regiments would
catch up and attack. The men had no more begun to eat their bacon and cornmeal when
General Sheridan arrived and initiated a fight. Luckily, it was nearly nightfall and the
Confederate force slipped out under a cover of darkness, but not before General Lee
received General Grant's first request for surrender.
Rushing to leave Farmville in the night, on April 7th, the Confederates did not get the
rations they so desperately needed and they were forced to forage for food. Many chose to
desert and leave for home. General Lee saw two men leaving for home and said, "Stop young
men, and get together you are straggling." One of the soldiers replied, "General, we are
just going over here to get some water." Lee replied, "Strike for your home and
fireside." (Freeman, Douglas Southall, R.E. Lee: A Biography. Vol 3. New York: 
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1935.) The soldiers did as General Lee suggested. Rebel forces
reached their objective which was Appomattox Court House, around 3:00 pm on April 8th.
Lee had received word that supplies had arrived to the south by train at the Appomattox
Station. The pursuing Union forces also knew about these supplies and took a faster
southern route to the station. The Federals had taken the supplies by 8:00 pm and would
wait at the station for the evening while preparing to attack the Confederates at
Appomattox Court House the following morning. Lee meanwhile scribbled out a brave
response to Grant's inquiry asking for an explanation of the terms to be involved in the
surrender.
The final battle began when the Confederate battle line was formed to the west of
Appomattox at daybreak. The Union soldiers were in position in front of the line with
cannons. When the Federal cannons commenced to fire, the Confederate signal for attack
was sounded and the troops charged. One soldier later remarked, " It was my fortune to
witness several charges during the war, but never one so magnificently executed as this
one." (McCarthy, Carlton, Detailed Minutiae of Soldier Life in the Army of Northern
Virginia 1861-1865. Richmond: Carlton McCarthy, 1882.) This Confederate advance only
lasted from about 7:00 am to 9:00 am, at which time the Rebels were forced back. The
Confederates could no longer hold their lines and Lee sent word to Grant to meet at 1:00
pm to discuss surrender. The two men met at the now famous McLean House and a surrender
was agreed upon. It was 
2:00 pm on April 9, 1865. Johnston's army surrendered to General Sherman on April 26, in
North Carolina. General Taylor of Mississippi/Alabama and General Smith of the trans
Mississippi/Texas surrrendered in May ending the war completely.
The Civil War was a tragic event. A war in which thousands died in their home country
over nothing more than a difference in opinion. Although slavery was the cause of the
Civil War half of the country thought it was wrong and the other half just couldn't free
them. The war was fought in probably 10,000 different places and the monetary and
property loss cannot be calculated. The Union soldiers that died numbered 360,222 and
only 110,000 of them died in battle. Confederate dead were estimated at 258,000 including
94,000 that actually died on the battlefield. The Civil War was a waste in terms of human
lives and possible accomplishment. Tragedy had struck a new country and tarnished it for
eternity. The Civil War will never be forgotten and will live on in the hearts and minds
of Americans forever. 
Bibliography
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Catton, Bruce. A Stillness at Appomattox. New York: Doubleday, 1963.
Davis, Burke. Sherman's March. New York: Random House, 1980.
Foote, Shelby. The Civil War. Vol 3. New York: Random House, 1974.
Garraty, John Arthur. The American Nation: A History of the United States to 1877. Vol.
1, Eighth Edition. New York: Harper Collins College Publishers, 1995.
Korn, Jerry. Pursuit to Appomattox, The Last Battles. Virginia: Time-Life Books, 1987.
Leone, Bruno, ed. The Civil War Opposing Viewpoints. American History Series. California:
Greenhaven Press, Inc., 1995.
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Miers, Earl Schenck. The Last Campaign. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1972.
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