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The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the
events surrounding the end of the American Civil War. This war was a war of epic
proportion. Never before and not since have so many Americans died in battle.
The American Civil War was truly tragic in terms of human life. In this
document, I will speak mainly around those involved on the battlefield in the
closing days of the conflict. Also, reference will be made to the leading men
behind the Union and Confederate forces.
The war was beginning to end by January of 1865. By then, Federal (Federal was
another name given to the Union Army) armies were spread throughout the
Confederacy and the Confederate Army had shrunk extremely in size. In the year
before, the North had lost an enormous amount of lives, but had more than enough
to lose in comparison to the South. General Grant became known as the
"Butcher" (Grant, Ulysses S., Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant, New
York: Charles L. Webster & Co.,1894) and many wanted to see him removed. But
Lincoln stood firm with his General, and the war continued. This paper will
follow the happenings and events between the winter of 1864-65 and the surrender
of The Confederate States of America. All of this will most certainly illustrate
that April 9, 1865 was indeed the end of a tragedy.
CUTTING OFF THE SOUTH
In September of 1864, General William T. Sherman and his army cleared the city
of Atlanta of its civilian population then rested ever so briefly. It was from
there that General Sherman and his army began its famous "march to the
sea". The march covered a distance of 400 miles and was 60 miles wide on
the way. For 32 days no news of him reached the North. He had cut himself off
from his base of supplies, and his men lived on what ever they could get from
the country through which they passed. On their route, the army destroyed
anything and everything that they could not use but was presumed usable to 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). Finally, on December 20,
Sherman's men reached the city of Savannah 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, Conn.:Greenwood Press, 1972).
Grant had decided that the only way to win and finish the war would be to crunch
with numbers. He knew that the Federal forces held more than a modest advantage
in terms of men and supplies. This in mind, Grant directed Sherman to turn
around now and start heading back toward Virginia. He immediately started making
preparations to provide assistance to Sherman on the journey. General John M.
Schofield and his men were to detach from the Army of the Cumberland, which had
just embarrassingly defeated the Confederates at Nashville, and proceed toward
North Carolina. His final destination was to be Goldsboro, which was roughly
half the distance between Savannah and Richmond. This is where he and his 20,000
troops would meet Sherman and his 50,000 troops.
Sherman began the move north in mid-January of........
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