Разумеется, оба эти документа перед отправкой были в тот момент показаны генералу Гранту, и он их одобрил. Одновременно во все концы армии были разосланы приказы быть готовыми возобновить преследование противника по истечении сорокавосьмичасового перемирия, а генералу Гилмору (на Хилтон-Хед) были отправлены послания аналогичного содержания с инструкциями любыми путями доставить подобное сообщение генералу Уилсону в Мейкон. Генерал Грант привез с собой из Вашингтона письменные ответы военного министра и его собственные на мои послания от 18-го числа, которые у меня до сих пор хранятся и оригинал которых я привожу здесь. Они включают копию депеши, отправленной митером Стентоном генералу Гранту в то время, когда тот теснил Ли у Аппоматтокса; если бы эта депеша была прислана мне тогда же (как и следовало сделать), она избавила бы меня от массы хлопот. Я не понимал, будто генерал Грант прибыл сюда, чтобы отстранить меня от командования, он и сам не намекал на это, и я не воспринял эти послания как суровый выговор, а незамедлительно отреагировал на них, как уже показано; и в этой связи я привожу свой ответ генералу Гранту в Роли, данный еще до того, как я получил какой-либо ответ от генерала Джонстона на требование о капитуляции его собственной армии, а также мой ответ на письмо мистера Стентона той же даты — оба они были написаны в предположении, что мне придется внезапно выступить в погоню за Джонстоном и у меня не будет другой возможности для объяснений.
WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON CITY, April 21, 1865.
Lieutenant-General GRANT.
GENERAL: The memorandum or basis agreed upon between General Sherman and General Johnston having been submitted to the President, they are disapproved. You will give notice of the disapproval to General Sherman, and direct him to resume hostilities at the earliest moment.
The instructions given to you by the late President, Abraham Lincoln, on the 3d of March, by my telegraph of that date, addressed to you, express substantially the views of President Andrew Johnson, and will be observed by General Sherman. A copy is herewith appended.
The President desires that you proceed immediately to the headquarters of Major-General Sherman, and direct operations against the enemy.
Yours truly,
EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War.
The following telegram was received 2 p.m., City Point, March 4, 1865 (from Washington, 12 M., March 3, 1865)
[CIPHER]
OFFICE UNITED STATES MILITARY TELEGRAPH,
HEADQUARTERS ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATES
Lieutenant-General GRANT:
The President directs me to say to you that he wishes you to have no conference with General Lee, unless it be for the capitulation of Lee's army or on solely minor and purely military matters.
He instructs me to say that you are not to decide, discuss, or confer upon any political question; such questions the President holds in his own hands, and will submit them to no military conferences or conventions.
Meantime you are to press to the utmost your military advantages.
EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War.
HEADQUARTERS ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATES
WASHINGTON, D.C. April 21, 1865.
Major-General W. T. SHERMAN, commanding Military Division of the Mississippi.
GENERAL: The basis of agreement entered into between yourself and General J. E. Johnston, for the disbandment of the Southern army, and the extension of the authority of the General Government over all the territory belonging to it, sent for the approval of the President, is received.
I read it carefully myself before submitting it to the President and Secretary of War, and felt satisfied that it could not possibly be approved. My reason for these views I will give you at another time, in a more extended letter.
Your agreement touches upon questions of such vital importance that, as soon as read, I addressed a note to the Secretary of War, notifying him of their receipt, and the importance of immediate action by the President; and suggested, in view of their importance, that the entire Cabinet be called together, that all might give an expression of their opinions upon the matter. The result was a disapproval by the President of the basis laid down; a disapproval of the negotiations altogether except for the surrender of the army commanded by General Johnston, and directions to me to notify you of this decision. I cannot do no better than by sending you the inclosed copy of a dispatch (penned by the late President, though signed by the Secretary of War) in answer to me, on sending a letter received from General Lee, proposing to meet me for the purpose of submitting the question of peace to a convention of officers.
Please notify General Johnston, immediately on receipt of this, of the termination of the truce, and resume hostilities against his army at the earliest moment you can, acting in good faith.
Very respectfully your obedient servant,
U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant-General.
HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI
IN THE FIELD, RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA, April 25, 1865.
Lieutenant-General U. S. GRANT, present.
GENERAL: I had the honor to receive your letter of April 21st, with inclosures, yesterday, and was well pleased that you came along, as you must have observed that I held the military control so as to adapt it to any phase the case might assume.
It is but just I should record the fact that I made my terms with General Johnston under the influence of the liberal terms you extended to the army of General Lee at Appomattox Court-House on the 9th, and the seeming policy of our Government, as evinced by the call of the Virginia Legislature and Governor back to Richmond, under yours and President Lincoln's very eyes.
It now appears this last act was done without any consultation with you or any knowledge of Mr. Lincoln, but rather in opposition to a previous policy well considered.
I have not the least desire to interfere in the civil policy of our Government, but would shun it as something not to my liking; but occasions do arise when a prompt seizure of results is forced on military commanders not in immediate communication with the proper authority. It is probable that the terms signed by General Johnston and myself were not clear enough on the point, well understood between us, that our negotiations did not apply to any parties outside the officers and men of the Confederate armies, which could easily have been remedied.
No surrender of any army not actually at the mercy of an antagonist was ever made without "terms," and these always define the military status of the surrendered. Thus you stipulated that the officers and men of Lee's army should not be molested at their homes so long as they obeyed the laws at the place of their residence.
I do not wish to discuss these points involved in our recognition of the State governments in actual existence, but will merely state my conclusions, to await the solution of the future.
Such action on our part in no manner recognizes for a moment the so-called Confederate Government, or makes us liable for its debts or acts.
The laws and acts done by the several States during the period of rebellion are void, because done without the oath prescribed by our Constitution of the United States, which is a "condition precedent."
We have a right to, use any sort of machinery to produce military results; and it is the commonest thing for military commanders to use the civil governments in actual existence as a means to an end. I do believe we could and can use the present State governments lawfully, constitutionally, and as the very best possible means to produce the object desired, viz., entire and complete submission to the lawful authority of the United States.
As to punishment for past crimes, that is for the judiciary, and can in no manner of way be disturbed by our acts; and, so far as I can, I will use my influence that rebels shall suffer all the personal punishment prescribed by law, as also the civil liabilities arising from their past acts.
What we now want is the new form of law by which common men may regain the positions of industry, so long disturbed by the war.
I now apprehend that the rebel armies will disperse; and, instead of dealing with six or seven States, we will have to deal with numberless bands of desperadoes, headed by such men as Mosby, Forrest, Red Jackson, and others, who know not and care not for danger and its consequences.
I am, with great respect, your obedient servant,
W. T. SHERMAN, Major-General commanding.
HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI
IN THE FIELD, RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA, April 25, 1865.
Hon. E. M. STANTON, Secretary of War, Washington.
DEAR SIR: I have been furnished a copy of your letter of April 21st to General Grant, signifying your disapproval of the terms on which General Johnston proposed to disarm and disperse the insurgents, on condition of amnesty, etc. I admit my folly in embracing in a military convention any civil matters; but, unfortunately, such is the nature of our situation that they seem inextricably united, and I understood from you at Savannah that the financial state of the country demanded military success, and would warrant a little bending to policy.
When I had my conference with General Johnston I had the public examples before me of General Grant's terms to Lee's army, and General Weitzel's invitation to the Virginia Legislature to assemble at Richmond.
I still believe the General Government of the United States has made a mistake; but that is none of my business--mine is a different task; and I had flattered myself that, by four years of patient, unremitting, and successful labor, I deserved no reminder such as is contained in the last paragraph of your letter to General Grant. You may assure the President that I heed his suggestion. I am truly, etc.,
W. T. SHERMAN, Major-General commanding.
В тот же день, но позже я получил ответ от генерала Джонстона с согласием снова встретиться со мной у дома Беннетта на следующий день, 26 апреля, в полдень. Он даже не знал, что генерал Грант находится в Роли. Генерал Грант посоветовал мне встретиться с ним и принять его капитуляцию на тех же условиях, что и условия его с генералом Ли; и 26-го числа я снова поднялся по железной дороге на станцию Дарем и выехал к дому Беннетта, где мы вновь встретились, и генерал Джонстон без колебаний согласился на следующие окончательные условия, которые мы и подписали:
Terms of a Military Convention, entered into this 26th day of April, 1865, at Bennett's House, near Durham's Station., North Carolina, between General JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON, commanding the Confederate Army, and Major-General W. T. SHERMAN, commanding the United States Army in North Carolina:
1. All acts of war on the part of the troops under General Johnston's command to cease from this date.
2. All arms and public property to be deposited at Greensboro', and delivered to an ordnance-officer of the United States Army.
3. Rolls of all the officers and men to be made in duplicate; one copy to be retained by the commander of the troops, and the other to be given to an officer to be designated by General Sherman. Each officer and man to give his individual obligation in writing not to take up arms against the Government of the United States, until properly released from this obligation.
4. The side-arms of officers, and their private horses and baggage, to be retained by them.
5. This being done, all the officers and men will be permitted to return to their homes, not to be disturbed by the United States authorities, so long as they observe their obligation and the laws in force where they may reside.
W. T. SHERMAN, Major-General, Commanding United States Forces in North Carolina.
J. E. JOHNSTON, General, Commanding Confederate States Forces in North Carolina.
Approved:
U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant-General.
В тот же вечер я вернулся в Роли, и по моей просьбе генерал Грант написал на этих условиях свое одобрение, после чего я подумал, что дело наконец-то завершено. Забрав подлинник, 27-го числа он вернулся в Ньюберн, а оттуда уехал обратно в Вашингтон. Я немедленно отдал все приказы, необходимые для претворения в жизнь условий этой конвенции, возложив на генерала Скофилда детали выдачи увольнительных, составления именных списков военнопленных, описей имущества и т. д. армии генерала Джонстона в районе Гринсборо, Северная Каролина, и окрестностях, а на генерала Уилсона — те же обязанности в Джорджии; однако до сих пор мне приходилось общаться с последним через каналы мятежников, и генерал Уилсон неизбежно испытывал путаницу из-за противоречий в приказах и информации. Я счел крайне важным установить для него более надежную базу информации и снабжения и в соответствии с этим решил лично отправиться в Саванну с этой целью. Но перед отъездом я получил «Нью-Йорк Таймс» от 24 апреля, содержащую следующие чрезвычайные сообщения:
[First Bulletin]
WAR DEPARTMENT WASHINGTON, April 22, 1885.
Yesterday evening a bearer of dispatches arrived from General Sherman. An agreement for a suspension of hostilities, and a memorandum of what is called a basis for peace, had been entered into on the 18th inst. by General Sherman, with the rebel General Johnston. Brigadier-General Breckenridge was present at the conference.
A cabinet meeting was held at eight o'clock in the evening, at which the action of General Sherman was disapproved by the President, by the Secretary of War, by General Grant, and by every member of the cabinet. General Sherman was ordered to resume hostilities immediately, and was directed that the instructions given by the late President, in the following telegram, which was penned by Mr. Lincoln himself, at the Capitol, on the night of the 3d of March, were approved by President Andrew Johnson, and were reiterated to govern the action of military commanders.
On the night of the 3d of March, while President Lincoln and his cabinet were at the Capitol, a telegram from General Grant was brought to the Secretary of War, informing him that General Lee had requested an interview or conference, to make an arrangement for terms of peace. The letter of General Lee was published in a letter to Davis and to the rebel Congress. General Grant's telegram was submitted to Mr. Lincoln, who, after pondering a few minutes, took up his pen and wrote with his own hand the following reply, which he submitted to the Secretary of State and Secretary of War. It was then dated, addressed, and signed, by the Secretary of War, and telegraphed to General Grant:
WASHINGTON, March 3, 1865-12 P.M.
Lieutenant-General GRANT:
The President directs me to say to you that he wishes you to have no conference with General Lee, unless it be for the capitulation of General Lee's army, or on some minor or purely military matter. He instructs me to say that you are not to decide, discuss, or confer upon any political questions. Such questions the President holds in his own hands, and will submit them to no military conferences or conventions.
Meantime you are to press to the utmost your military advantages.
EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War.
The orders of General Sherman to General Stoneman to withdraw from Salisbury and join him will probably open the way for Davis to escape to Mexico or Europe with his plunder, which is reported to be very large, including not only the plunder of the Richmond banks, but previous accumulations.
A dispatch received by this department from Richmond says: "It is stated here, by respectable parties, that the amount of specie taken south by Jeff. Davis and his partisans is very large, including not only the plunder of the Richmond banks, but previous accumulations. They hope, it is said, to make terms with General Sherman, or some other commander, by which they will be permitted, with their effects, including this gold plunder, to go to Mexico or Europe. Johnston's negotiations look to this end."
After the cabinet meeting last night, General Grant started for North Carolina, to direct operations against Johnston's army.
EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War.
Далее следовали условия и десять причин мистера Стентона для их отклонения. Официальная публикация этого бюллетеня была оскорблением по отношению ко мне, поскольку мистер Стентон не уведомил меня заблаговременно, как это было его обязанностью, о намерении администрации ограничить наши переговоры сугубо военными вопросами; наоборот, в Саванне он уполномочил меня контролировать все вопросы, как гражданские, так и военные. Этим бюллетенем он давал понять, будто мне предварительно была предоставлена копия его депеши от 3 марта генералу Гранту, что не соответствовало действительности; и он подкрепил ходившие повсеместно слухи о том, будто меня можно подкупить банкирским золотом, чтобы позволить Дэвису бежать. Под влиянием этого я написал генералу Гранту следующее письмо от 28 апреля, которое было опубликовано в Материалах Комитета по расследованию ведения войны. Я расценил этот бюллетень мистера Стентона как личное и официальное оскорбление, на которое впоследствии ответил публичным протестом.
HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI
IN THE FIELD, RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA, April 28,1865.
Lieutenant-General U. S. GRANT, General-in-Chief, Washington, D. C.
GENERAL: Since you left me yesterday, I have seen the New York Times of the 24th, containing a budget of military news, authenticated by the signature of the Secretary of War, Hon. E. M. Stanton, which is grouped in such a way as to give the public very erroneous impressions. It embraces a copy of the basis of agreement between myself and General Johnston, of April 18th, with comments, which it will be time enough to discuss two or three years hence, after the Government has experimented a little more in the machinery by which power reaches the scattered people of the vast country known as the "South."
In the mean time, however, I did think that my rank (if not past services) entitled me at least to trust that the Secretary of War would keep secret what was communicated for the use of none but the cabinet, until further inquiry could be made, instead of giving publicity to it along with documents which I never saw, and drawing therefrom inferences wide of the truth. I never saw or had furnished me a copy of President Lincoln's dispatch to you of the 3d of March, nor did Mr. Stanton or any human being ever convey to me its substance, or any thing like it. On the contrary, I had seen General Weitzel's invitation to the Virginia Legislature, made in Mr. Lincoln's very presence, and failed to discover any other official hint of a plan of reconstruction, or any ideas calculated to allay the fears of the people of the South, after the destruction of their armies and civil authorities would leave them without any government whatever.