Ida M. Tarbell's "Disbanding of the Confederate Army"
|
Date Published: October 14, 2024
|
This article by Ida M. Tarbell, which was published in McClure’s Magazine in April 1901, has been edited by this author. Changes have been made to some text, and footnotes have been added for the twenty-first century reader’s understanding. Titles and subtitles have been introduced by this author to provide clarity and support the stream of thought in this article. Any errors in these areas are this author’s and this author’s alone.
The article discussing "The Disbanding of the Union Army" can be found here: [Union Army Disbanding]
Peter E. Greulich, October 2024
The Disbanding of the Confederate Army
- General Robert E. Lee Surrenders and His Soldiers Accept the End the Civil War
- News of General Lee’s Surrender Cascades Across the South
- The Last Hope for a Separate Confederacy Vanishes in Texas
- A Small Number of Desperate, Irresponsible Marauders Cause Problems
- Penniless Confederate Soldiers Return to Destroyed Homes and Displaced Families
- The Personal Experience of One Southern Woman Returning Home
- The Personal Experience of One Confederate Soldier Returning Home
- Some Prosperous Southern Leaders Look Toward Mexico
- General Robert E. Lee’s Personal Impact Unifies and Uplifts the South
- General Robert E. Lee Surrenders and His Soldiers Accept the End the Civil War
For a week, the army of Northern Virginia had been fighting and retreating on parched corn. [See Footnote #1 for definition of parched corn] Fifty-seven thousand men were pursued by 125,000. They had done their best, but now, on April 9th, they were worn ‘‘to a frazzle.” All but 28,000 of their number had been captured, killed, or scattered, and on all sides they were surrounded by the Federals.
It was not their hunger or weariness which occupied their thoughts at this moment, however; it was the dismal fact that off there a little distance their commander, General Robert E. Lee, was surrendering them to General Ulysses S. Grant. Had he asked them to cut their way out of the circle which held them, battered and starved as they were, they would have tried to do it, but to submit, to surrender—that was harder.
Yet, a few hours later with the terms of the surrender arranged, when the General, grave and pale, rode the length of their lines, they crowded about him as he went, their eyes wet with tears, their voices choked with sobs, struggling to kiss his hands, even to touch his horse—to show in some way that, bitter as their hearts were, there was nothing in them but love and honor for him. The next day these men, who had fought from Bull Run to Petersburg, and won as brilliant of victories as history records, marched up, stacked their muskets, signed a printed form of parole [See Footnote #2 for definition of parole] not to take arms again against the United States; and with that alone in their pockets to face the world, they scattered north and south, east and west. |
“They crowded about General Lee, their eyes wet with tears and their voices choked with sobs."
|
- News of General Lee’s Surrender Cascades Across the South
The news of Lee’s surrender spread slowly but steadily through the Confederacy. By the evening of the 10th it had reached a force of seven or eight thousand men near Christianburg. At first the officers tried to conceal it from the men, but it could not be hushed.
“Before we had concluded our brief conversation,” writes General Duke—one of the staff, ‘‘we knew from the hum and stir in the anxious, dark-browed crowds nearest us, that the terrible tidings had gotten abroad. That night no man slept. Strange as the declaration may sound now, there was not one of the six or seven thousand then gathered at Christianburg who had entertained the slightest thought that such an event could happen, and doubtless that feeling pervaded the ranks of the Confederacy.
“Before we had concluded our brief conversation,” writes General Duke—one of the staff, ‘‘we knew from the hum and stir in the anxious, dark-browed crowds nearest us, that the terrible tidings had gotten abroad. That night no man slept. Strange as the declaration may sound now, there was not one of the six or seven thousand then gathered at Christianburg who had entertained the slightest thought that such an event could happen, and doubtless that feeling pervaded the ranks of the Confederacy.
“All during the night, officers and men were congregated in groups and crowds discussing the news. Great fires were lit, every group had its orators who, succeeding each other, spoke continuously. Every conceivable suggestion was offered. Some advocated a guerrilla warfare; some proposed marching to the trans-Mississippi and thence to Mexico; the more practical and reasonable, of course, proposed that an effort to join General Johnston should immediately be made.”
Spreading southward, the news reached Joe Johnston on the 12th, whose army was in North Carolina, facing that of Sherman. Johnston knew only too well what Lee’s surrender meant for him, and on the 13th, he asked Sherman for a suspension of active operations. Two weeks later he surrendered his entire force. The effect of the news was the same on the only other Confederate army east of the Mississippi—that of Dick Taylor, who on May 4th surrendered to General Canby. |
“Discussing the Surrender”
|
- The Last Hope for a Separate Confederacy Vanishes in Texas
The principal Confederate force west of the Mississippi was stationed in Texas. There was no telegraph beyond the boundary line at that date, only one railroad penetrated the State, and the harbors were all blockaded, so that it was late in April before the news came to Texas. There came with it rumors that President Davis and his Cabinet and the armies of Johnston and Taylor were on their way to the trans-Mississippi region, and that there a new stand was to be taken and a new country opened.
On this rumor such hopes were built that there was no thought of surrender. “Stand by the ship, boys, as long as there is one plank upon another,” General Joe Shelby said on April 26th in his address to his troops. General Magruder declared on May 5th, “We are not whipped, and no matter what may transpire, we never will be whipped.” Mass-meetings of citizens and soldiers were held all over the State, and resolutions of resistance were adopted.
But swift upon the report that Johnston, Taylor and Davis had escaped came reports of their surrender. As soon as this news was confirmed in Texas, there followed in the army what was long known as the “break-up.” It was a widespread and immediate decamping of the soldiers with whatever army property they could get their hands on. Officers wakened in the morning to find that where they had had three companies at nightfall they now had only one. In squads, singly, or by twos, the soldiers started for home without as much as a word of farewell. It was a complete conviction that the game was up and they must shift for themselves which had taken hold of the Texas army, and only a minority were sufficiently superior to remain until their officers could give them proper discharge papers. On May 26th, a formal surrender took place.
The commander-in-chief of the Confederate forces west of the Mississippi was General Kirby Smith. He was in Shreveport, Louisiana, when the “break-up” began, but hastened to Texas, his idea being to concentrate the entire force under his command in order to obtain honorable terms or to continue the struggle.
On May 30th, at Houston, he issued an address in which he declared that he had returned to find himself “a commander without an army, a general without troops.” He told the soldiers, “You have made your choice. It was unwise and unpatriotic, but it is final. You have voluntarily destroyed your organization, and thrown away all means of resistance.” Two days later he ratified the terms of surrender between Canby and Buckner, agreed to on May 26th.
Thus in six weeks an army scattered over a country nearly 2,000 miles in length and 1,000 in width—an army which had conducted a brave resistance for four years, had crumbled into its original units.
On this rumor such hopes were built that there was no thought of surrender. “Stand by the ship, boys, as long as there is one plank upon another,” General Joe Shelby said on April 26th in his address to his troops. General Magruder declared on May 5th, “We are not whipped, and no matter what may transpire, we never will be whipped.” Mass-meetings of citizens and soldiers were held all over the State, and resolutions of resistance were adopted.
But swift upon the report that Johnston, Taylor and Davis had escaped came reports of their surrender. As soon as this news was confirmed in Texas, there followed in the army what was long known as the “break-up.” It was a widespread and immediate decamping of the soldiers with whatever army property they could get their hands on. Officers wakened in the morning to find that where they had had three companies at nightfall they now had only one. In squads, singly, or by twos, the soldiers started for home without as much as a word of farewell. It was a complete conviction that the game was up and they must shift for themselves which had taken hold of the Texas army, and only a minority were sufficiently superior to remain until their officers could give them proper discharge papers. On May 26th, a formal surrender took place.
The commander-in-chief of the Confederate forces west of the Mississippi was General Kirby Smith. He was in Shreveport, Louisiana, when the “break-up” began, but hastened to Texas, his idea being to concentrate the entire force under his command in order to obtain honorable terms or to continue the struggle.
On May 30th, at Houston, he issued an address in which he declared that he had returned to find himself “a commander without an army, a general without troops.” He told the soldiers, “You have made your choice. It was unwise and unpatriotic, but it is final. You have voluntarily destroyed your organization, and thrown away all means of resistance.” Two days later he ratified the terms of surrender between Canby and Buckner, agreed to on May 26th.
Thus in six weeks an army scattered over a country nearly 2,000 miles in length and 1,000 in width—an army which had conducted a brave resistance for four years, had crumbled into its original units.
- A Small Number of Desperate, Irresponsible Marauders Cause Problems
The great bulk of this army took the first step in their disbandment according to the rules laid down by their victors. It was only a small percentage which refused their compliance and decamped at the word of surrender, like the men referred to above by General Smith. The men who left thus unceremoniously were of two classes: those who were sick of the whole business and simply wanted to get home as quickly as possible, and those who were unwilling to give up fighting.
The former—those individuals who left unceremoniously, was by far the larger class, but both classes contributed to the disorders which followed the surrender of General Lee. The Federals proposed that the entire Confederate force should take paroles and surrender their arms, and they attempted to force those who had decamped to do so. For many weeks, the forces left in the East occupied themselves in running down Confederates without paroles. Thus in the last of April, Colonel H. B. Reed went up the Shenandoah Valley with a force and secured some 900 paroles. The official records of the period contain many accounts of scouts resulting in a few paroles and the discovery of small quantities of concealed arms.
In Texas, where the largest number of men had deserted, the Federal general in charge of the State sent out orders in June that all Confederates must report at certain points, bring in their muskets, and be paroled. Few ever obeyed the order, and the State was too large for the military authorities to enforce it. Gradually the attempt to secure complete paroles was abandoned as doing more harm than good.
The size of the latter—those individuals who proposed to carry on the war, has been greatly exaggerated. The guerrilla warfare which followed the surrender of the forces was really unimportant, though it caused considerable uneasiness in the North.
In the mountains of Virginia small bands took refuge for a time and made raids on the inhabitants. In North Carolina, too, there was considerable complaint of marauding, but when the disturbers were run down they generally proved to be disorderly characters, stragglers from both armies, who had taken to robbery as a means of livelihood.
In the West, the trouble from guerrillas naturally continued longer than in the East. What it actually amounted to there one can best judge from the reports of the officers who were in charge of the districts. Missouri was, after Texas, the longest in revolt, but even in May and June of ‘65 there was no very serious resistance there, and the bands were not numerous—one of thirty-five was driven out from the headwaters of the Little Piney in May, a few of the men being killed, the rest escaping. The captain of a company sent to the Blackwater near Longwood, Missouri, to clear out the reported bushwhackers, reported that, after having scouted the country daily for miles around during nearly three weeks, he had run down three bushwhackers—who broke through the bush and made their escape. Five men were caught by United States troops at Valley Mines robbing a store on May 22nd and one man was killed.
In short, this guerrilla warfare when analyzed resolves itself chiefly into the marauding of irresponsible and desperate bands, composed of a few Confederates, a sprinkling of renegade Federals, and many desperadoes who had never worn a uniform. It continued with diminishing strength for several months.
Indeed, it was not until April 2, 1866, that President Johnson issued a proclamation that war was legally terminated. Even then Texas was omitted from the list of pacified States, and it was not until August 20, 1866, that Johnson issued a proclamation which included Texas, and which proclaimed, “the insurrection is at an end,” and “peace, order, tranquility, and civil authority now exist in and throughout the whole of the United States.” In March, 1867, Congress declared that the date of this second proclamation should be considered as the legal termination of the war. It is so considered in cases before the courts, in which such a date is necessary, as it has been more than once in settling pension claims.
The former—those individuals who left unceremoniously, was by far the larger class, but both classes contributed to the disorders which followed the surrender of General Lee. The Federals proposed that the entire Confederate force should take paroles and surrender their arms, and they attempted to force those who had decamped to do so. For many weeks, the forces left in the East occupied themselves in running down Confederates without paroles. Thus in the last of April, Colonel H. B. Reed went up the Shenandoah Valley with a force and secured some 900 paroles. The official records of the period contain many accounts of scouts resulting in a few paroles and the discovery of small quantities of concealed arms.
In Texas, where the largest number of men had deserted, the Federal general in charge of the State sent out orders in June that all Confederates must report at certain points, bring in their muskets, and be paroled. Few ever obeyed the order, and the State was too large for the military authorities to enforce it. Gradually the attempt to secure complete paroles was abandoned as doing more harm than good.
The size of the latter—those individuals who proposed to carry on the war, has been greatly exaggerated. The guerrilla warfare which followed the surrender of the forces was really unimportant, though it caused considerable uneasiness in the North.
In the mountains of Virginia small bands took refuge for a time and made raids on the inhabitants. In North Carolina, too, there was considerable complaint of marauding, but when the disturbers were run down they generally proved to be disorderly characters, stragglers from both armies, who had taken to robbery as a means of livelihood.
In the West, the trouble from guerrillas naturally continued longer than in the East. What it actually amounted to there one can best judge from the reports of the officers who were in charge of the districts. Missouri was, after Texas, the longest in revolt, but even in May and June of ‘65 there was no very serious resistance there, and the bands were not numerous—one of thirty-five was driven out from the headwaters of the Little Piney in May, a few of the men being killed, the rest escaping. The captain of a company sent to the Blackwater near Longwood, Missouri, to clear out the reported bushwhackers, reported that, after having scouted the country daily for miles around during nearly three weeks, he had run down three bushwhackers—who broke through the bush and made their escape. Five men were caught by United States troops at Valley Mines robbing a store on May 22nd and one man was killed.
In short, this guerrilla warfare when analyzed resolves itself chiefly into the marauding of irresponsible and desperate bands, composed of a few Confederates, a sprinkling of renegade Federals, and many desperadoes who had never worn a uniform. It continued with diminishing strength for several months.
Indeed, it was not until April 2, 1866, that President Johnson issued a proclamation that war was legally terminated. Even then Texas was omitted from the list of pacified States, and it was not until August 20, 1866, that Johnson issued a proclamation which included Texas, and which proclaimed, “the insurrection is at an end,” and “peace, order, tranquility, and civil authority now exist in and throughout the whole of the United States.” In March, 1867, Congress declared that the date of this second proclamation should be considered as the legal termination of the war. It is so considered in cases before the courts, in which such a date is necessary, as it has been more than once in settling pension claims.
- Penniless Confederate Soldiers Return to Destroyed Homes and Displaced Families
But whether the disbanding soldiers complied with the Federal regulations or not, whether they took to the mountains and bayous or started on the nearest route to their homes, they were in a curious and perplexing position. They were literally men without a country. The government which had enlisted and supported them was dead, its officials were prisoners, its constitution void, its currency worthless.
At the outset, a dreadful practical question faced them. How were they going to get to their former homes? They had no money. Whatever funds their generals had been able to get hold of had been divided among them, but it was the merest pittance. Johnston, when he saw surrender was inevitable, had secured money to pay his men and officers a dollar apiece. Lee’s men had received nothing. Dick Taylor’s had received nothing.
The only portion of Kirby Smith’s men which secured money were the 500 at San Antonio, because when they realized that the collapse had come they forced the financial agents of the Confederacy, who had some $80,000 in silver in the vault there, to divide this sum among them. The troops which were with Jefferson Davis also received a little money. The Confederate treasury of $250,000 to $300,000 had been kept with Mr. Davis, and was under the guard of General Duke. At Savannah River about $110,000 in silver from this fund was paid to the men, each one receiving about $32.
Penniless as they were, nothing but walking or working their way would have been left to the entire Confederate army if the Federals had not wisely and justly come to their relief. General Grant inaugurated this movement by allowing Lee’s men to keep their horses. He also allowed his own quartermasters to turn over to the Confederates whatever horses and mules they could spare. Johnston’s army fared a little better, for not only were they given their animals, but it was arranged that those who lived beyond the Mississippi should have transportation by water to some Southern port. The same arrangements were made for Taylor’s army.
With the signing of the paroles all organization ceased, and the men were expected to disperse. Those who had horses mounted them, and in twos and threes or half-dozens rode away. Sometimes a body of men, whose homes were far away, were kept together and marched under Federal directions to a convenient point, and a limited amount of transportation furnished to them which would bring them within easier distance of their journey’s end.
At the outset, a dreadful practical question faced them. How were they going to get to their former homes? They had no money. Whatever funds their generals had been able to get hold of had been divided among them, but it was the merest pittance. Johnston, when he saw surrender was inevitable, had secured money to pay his men and officers a dollar apiece. Lee’s men had received nothing. Dick Taylor’s had received nothing.
The only portion of Kirby Smith’s men which secured money were the 500 at San Antonio, because when they realized that the collapse had come they forced the financial agents of the Confederacy, who had some $80,000 in silver in the vault there, to divide this sum among them. The troops which were with Jefferson Davis also received a little money. The Confederate treasury of $250,000 to $300,000 had been kept with Mr. Davis, and was under the guard of General Duke. At Savannah River about $110,000 in silver from this fund was paid to the men, each one receiving about $32.
Penniless as they were, nothing but walking or working their way would have been left to the entire Confederate army if the Federals had not wisely and justly come to their relief. General Grant inaugurated this movement by allowing Lee’s men to keep their horses. He also allowed his own quartermasters to turn over to the Confederates whatever horses and mules they could spare. Johnston’s army fared a little better, for not only were they given their animals, but it was arranged that those who lived beyond the Mississippi should have transportation by water to some Southern port. The same arrangements were made for Taylor’s army.
With the signing of the paroles all organization ceased, and the men were expected to disperse. Those who had horses mounted them, and in twos and threes or half-dozens rode away. Sometimes a body of men, whose homes were far away, were kept together and marched under Federal directions to a convenient point, and a limited amount of transportation furnished to them which would bring them within easier distance of their journey’s end.
Often there were no horses or mules, no transportation, and the men were obliged to shift for themselves, with the result that thousands straggled across country afoot, often for hundreds of miles, trusting to the hospitality of the people for food.
“I am daily touched to the heart,” wrote a correspondent of the New York Tribune in May, “by seeing these poor, homesick boys and exhausted men wandering about in threadbare uniforms, with scanty outfit of slender haversack and blanket roll hung over their shoulders, seeking the nearest route home; they have a care-worn and anxious look, a played-out manner.” The worst of the ordeal of these men, who had begun to disband in this haphazard way, was not getting home, it was what they found when they got there. |
Returning home they found their native towns like Manassas, Richmond, Columbia, Atlanta, Vicksburg, Nashville and more … destroyed.
|
The inventory of destruction in the South by the war is appalling. From the Potomac to the Rappahannock the country was cleaned of fences, of trees, of landmarks of every description. At Manassas, a town of forty or fifty houses before the war, there now stood forty or fifty chimneys. From the Rappahannock to Richmond all Eastern Virginia was a great and desolate battlefield, its only crop rusty canteens, moldy bread, knapsacks and exploded shells, and, thick as the grass in spring—Minie balls. [See Footnote #3 for description of Minie balls]
Richmond, after the havoc of a long siege, had been swept by fire. Across South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama lay the path of devastation wrought by Sherman’s army. In the streets of Charleston the grass was growing, while Summerville, its once favorite resort, had been reduced from a prosperous town of 2,500 to a hamlet of 200 half-starved souls.
At Columbia, South Carolina, there was block upon block of dwellings, shops, and institutions of which nothing was left but jagged brick walls and slender, melancholy chimneys. Atlanta, Chattanooga, Vicksburg, Nashville, had been riddled by shell and turned topsy-turvy by hostile occupation. For four years, only irregular crops had been put in, and though there was cotton left in the country, there was no way for its owners to secure it or dispose of it. Most of the great manufactories of the South were destroyed or shut down—the Tredegar Iron Works at Richmond, the salt works in the Valley of the Holston, the iron manufactories at Marion, the lead works of Wythe County.
Not only were fully two-thirds of all property destroyed and all industries at a stand-still, but those fundamental contrivances by which property is made productive and put into circulation were destroyed. Their labor system was wiped out by the emancipation of the slaves. The railroads were gone, tracks torn up, bridges destroyed, engines and cars worn out. Their ports had been blockaded … their shipping destroyed. There was no postal system, and their money was useless, except as it could be sold to curiosity hunters.
It was through this desolation that the disbanding Confederates made their way to their homes. All of those who lived in the track of the armies were haunted, not only by the fear of finding their homes destroyed, but finding their families scattered.
It had been necessary for women and children all over Eastern and Northern Virginia to flee from the country. Sherman had driven the entire population from Atlanta when he left the city for his march to the sea, not wishing to feed and guard them as would have been necessary.
Everywhere the people had scattered at the coming of the soldiers, hundreds going to Texas, a few to Europe, many to Canada, thousands into the portions of the States outside of the track of battle. The returning soldiers frequently knew little or nothing of where their loved ones had gone, and had no idea of how they would reach them.
Richmond, after the havoc of a long siege, had been swept by fire. Across South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama lay the path of devastation wrought by Sherman’s army. In the streets of Charleston the grass was growing, while Summerville, its once favorite resort, had been reduced from a prosperous town of 2,500 to a hamlet of 200 half-starved souls.
At Columbia, South Carolina, there was block upon block of dwellings, shops, and institutions of which nothing was left but jagged brick walls and slender, melancholy chimneys. Atlanta, Chattanooga, Vicksburg, Nashville, had been riddled by shell and turned topsy-turvy by hostile occupation. For four years, only irregular crops had been put in, and though there was cotton left in the country, there was no way for its owners to secure it or dispose of it. Most of the great manufactories of the South were destroyed or shut down—the Tredegar Iron Works at Richmond, the salt works in the Valley of the Holston, the iron manufactories at Marion, the lead works of Wythe County.
Not only were fully two-thirds of all property destroyed and all industries at a stand-still, but those fundamental contrivances by which property is made productive and put into circulation were destroyed. Their labor system was wiped out by the emancipation of the slaves. The railroads were gone, tracks torn up, bridges destroyed, engines and cars worn out. Their ports had been blockaded … their shipping destroyed. There was no postal system, and their money was useless, except as it could be sold to curiosity hunters.
It was through this desolation that the disbanding Confederates made their way to their homes. All of those who lived in the track of the armies were haunted, not only by the fear of finding their homes destroyed, but finding their families scattered.
It had been necessary for women and children all over Eastern and Northern Virginia to flee from the country. Sherman had driven the entire population from Atlanta when he left the city for his march to the sea, not wishing to feed and guard them as would have been necessary.
Everywhere the people had scattered at the coming of the soldiers, hundreds going to Texas, a few to Europe, many to Canada, thousands into the portions of the States outside of the track of battle. The returning soldiers frequently knew little or nothing of where their loved ones had gone, and had no idea of how they would reach them.
- The Personal Experience of One Southern Woman Returning Home
The personal experiences related by Mrs. C. D. Maclean, in the Southern Historical Society Papers, are typical of the condition in which numbers of women found themselves at the close of the war. Mrs. Maclean’s home was in Columbia, South Carolina, and she and her sister had been sent to the interior of North Carolina for safety.
Here they were completely cut off from all intercourse outside of the neighborhood, and it was not until May that she learned of Lee’s surrender when two threadbare soldiers stopped for a drink. They told what had happened, and explained that they were bound for South Carolina to “bushwhack Yankees.” Eager as Mrs. Maclean was to get home now, it was not until midsummer that an opportunity came. Then a neighbor offered to take her to Greensboro, forty miles distant, in a dilapidated buggy drawn by a “spavined—old and decrepit, mule.” |
Confederate soldiers spreading “the news” as they make their way home.
|
At Greensboro she was able to take the remnant of a railroad which ran within a few miles of her home, and to finish her journey by stagecoach. Mrs. Maclean writes, “I approached Columbia from the north, over bleak, bare, sandhills, and it was from the nearest of these that I first saw the ruined city spread out like a neglected kiln below. … At the sight I burst into tears.”
Once back in their homes, the disbanding soldiers were met by the long series of difficult questions arising from the condition of the country: the first and most imperative of which was usually how to get bread for the coming year.
As a rule there was nothing for them to do but take hold of the humblest tasks.
Take Richmond, for example. The town was in such condition that business could not be carried on. Its ruins had to be cleared away and the streets rebuilt. Nothing is finer than the way in which the men of the highest breeding and education went to pulling down walls, clearing brick, laying foundations. John S. Wise, in his entertaining volume, ‘‘The End of an Era,” writes of the laborers he found filling the streets of Richmond in the month after the surrender:
Once back in their homes, the disbanding soldiers were met by the long series of difficult questions arising from the condition of the country: the first and most imperative of which was usually how to get bread for the coming year.
As a rule there was nothing for them to do but take hold of the humblest tasks.
Take Richmond, for example. The town was in such condition that business could not be carried on. Its ruins had to be cleared away and the streets rebuilt. Nothing is finer than the way in which the men of the highest breeding and education went to pulling down walls, clearing brick, laying foundations. John S. Wise, in his entertaining volume, ‘‘The End of an Era,” writes of the laborers he found filling the streets of Richmond in the month after the surrender:
“Many of them I knew well—men of as good social position as my own. Soldiers resolved not to be idle, but to work for an honest living in any way they could.
“Sitting in the sun with their trowels, jabbing away in awkward fashion at their new and unaccustomed tasks, covered with dust and plaster, they were the same bright, cheerful fellows who had learned to labor in that state of life to which it had pleased God to call them, just as they had been willing followers, in sunshine and in storm, of their beloved Lee. “At night with their day’s wages in their pockets, they would go home, change their clothing, take a bath, and associate with their families—not at all ashamed of their labors, but making a joke of their newly discovered method of earning a sustenance.’’ Many of these people had property, to be sure, but it was impossible then to profit from it, even if they had wished to sacrifice it, nobody being willing to buy property which might be liable later to confiscation. There were hundreds, too, who owned valuable jewels, plates, pictures, or furniture which they would have disposed of if they had been able. |
“Richmond After the War”
|
One of the most pathetic editorials in the early numbers of the Richmond “Whig” is one headed: “A Pawnbroker Wanted,” explaining the need there was of such a dealer in the town.
In the country a livelihood was even more uncertain than in the towns. Hon. John V. Wright, now of the Department of the Interior, in response to the author’s question as to what the planters’ resources were at the close of the war, has courteously stated his experience in reply:
“My opportunities for knowing the condition of the people of the South were good, both before and after the war. As to the class known as planters, having large tracts of lands and many slaves, my own experience and fate will give an idea of the whole.
“I was the owner of perhaps six or more thousand acres of land in the cotton belt, with about one hundred slaves, together with mules, horses, and other stock and agricultural implements. The estate was valued at about $250,000. Added to this, the other members of the family had estates which together aggregated $1,000,000.
“By the loss of the slaves, the lands became practically valueless. The crops of the country had been consumed by the people or had gone to support the army. Hence we were reduced from wealth to poverty. Most of the planters had no trades or professions by which to make a living, and these were, indeed, the greatest sufferers. They had virtually nothing on which to live, and many of the older ones died with broken spirits.
“The other classes—not slaveholders, also suffered as all their stock was lost, and when they returned home they found only ashes where their humble but happy homes had been situated, their wives and children houseless, and stricken with poverty. The grand conduct of General Grant in allowing the soldiers of Lee to retain their horses served to mitigate the condition to some extent, as these soldiers used the horses in cultivating the land.
“This condition was almost universal. It is believed that in the history of the world no country was so entirely destroyed over so large a space as was the South. There were large amounts of cotton in the South at the close of the war, but little of it was in the hands of the people. Much of it was confiscated by the Federal Government, and much of it was stolen or taken by force by roving bands of soldiers from both armies.
“There were many bales of cotton on my plantation, all of which disappeared in a single night. As the Southern ports were closed by the Federals, no cotton could be exported, and for two or three years it accumulated in great quantities. For a year or two—during the close of the war, little cotton comparatively was planted, as food products were raised for the use of those at home and for the army. I suppose it would be difficult to find anywhere an accurate account of how much cotton was on hand, but it may be safely said that there was but little which went to the aid of the men who returned from the war.’’
Perhaps nothing could illustrate better the straits to which the planters were put than the following actual experience related to the writer:
In the country a livelihood was even more uncertain than in the towns. Hon. John V. Wright, now of the Department of the Interior, in response to the author’s question as to what the planters’ resources were at the close of the war, has courteously stated his experience in reply:
“My opportunities for knowing the condition of the people of the South were good, both before and after the war. As to the class known as planters, having large tracts of lands and many slaves, my own experience and fate will give an idea of the whole.
“I was the owner of perhaps six or more thousand acres of land in the cotton belt, with about one hundred slaves, together with mules, horses, and other stock and agricultural implements. The estate was valued at about $250,000. Added to this, the other members of the family had estates which together aggregated $1,000,000.
“By the loss of the slaves, the lands became practically valueless. The crops of the country had been consumed by the people or had gone to support the army. Hence we were reduced from wealth to poverty. Most of the planters had no trades or professions by which to make a living, and these were, indeed, the greatest sufferers. They had virtually nothing on which to live, and many of the older ones died with broken spirits.
“The other classes—not slaveholders, also suffered as all their stock was lost, and when they returned home they found only ashes where their humble but happy homes had been situated, their wives and children houseless, and stricken with poverty. The grand conduct of General Grant in allowing the soldiers of Lee to retain their horses served to mitigate the condition to some extent, as these soldiers used the horses in cultivating the land.
“This condition was almost universal. It is believed that in the history of the world no country was so entirely destroyed over so large a space as was the South. There were large amounts of cotton in the South at the close of the war, but little of it was in the hands of the people. Much of it was confiscated by the Federal Government, and much of it was stolen or taken by force by roving bands of soldiers from both armies.
“There were many bales of cotton on my plantation, all of which disappeared in a single night. As the Southern ports were closed by the Federals, no cotton could be exported, and for two or three years it accumulated in great quantities. For a year or two—during the close of the war, little cotton comparatively was planted, as food products were raised for the use of those at home and for the army. I suppose it would be difficult to find anywhere an accurate account of how much cotton was on hand, but it may be safely said that there was but little which went to the aid of the men who returned from the war.’’
Perhaps nothing could illustrate better the straits to which the planters were put than the following actual experience related to the writer:
- The Personal Experience of One Confederate Soldier Returning Home
In April, 1865, Lawrence Taliaferro, who for four years had been with Lee’s army, returned to his home on the north side of the Rappahannock, perhaps twelve miles from Fredericksburg.
He was twenty-five years of age.
When he went into the war, his father owned a farm of several hundred acres, with handsome buildings, fine stock, and 150 negroes. Lawrence Taliaferro had always lived the life of a son of a country gentleman. Returning to Fredericksburg penniless, he crossed the river and started cross-country to his old home. Before he had gone a mile he had lost his way.
The country, which he had once known as well as one knows the different halls and rooms of his own house, was like a foreign field to him. The forests had disappeared, and where once there had been a single road there were now twenty. The Army of the Potomac of over 100,000 men had occupied this place almost continuously from November 1862, until May 1863. They had cut every tree and sapling for miles in every direction, to get fuel to burn logs for their huts and corduroy for their roads. [See Footnote #4 for description of corduroy roads]
He was twenty-five years of age.
When he went into the war, his father owned a farm of several hundred acres, with handsome buildings, fine stock, and 150 negroes. Lawrence Taliaferro had always lived the life of a son of a country gentleman. Returning to Fredericksburg penniless, he crossed the river and started cross-country to his old home. Before he had gone a mile he had lost his way.
The country, which he had once known as well as one knows the different halls and rooms of his own house, was like a foreign field to him. The forests had disappeared, and where once there had been a single road there were now twenty. The Army of the Potomac of over 100,000 men had occupied this place almost continuously from November 1862, until May 1863. They had cut every tree and sapling for miles in every direction, to get fuel to burn logs for their huts and corduroy for their roads. [See Footnote #4 for description of corduroy roads]
When Lawrence Taliaferro attempted to get to his old home, he was in a country of which he knew nothing. His way lost, he could only wander from one new road to another, until at last he came upon an unfamiliar hut. He rapped and an old negro [See Footnote #5] came out. He was one of his father’s former slaves, and the man conducted him to his old home. All outhouses and fences had disappeared, as well as the shade trees and shrubbery. There was only the shell of the house.
He found his father and sister living there. Two of the old servants had remained, refusing to leave their master. Upon inquiry he found that all that was left of the farm property was one old mule and a much-patched harness. A few days after his return, an older brother came back from Lee’s army and brought with him a worn-out horse. Then began the struggle for daily bread. |
“The Confederate Soldier’s Return Home”
|
The two young men patched up the harness for the mule and horse, borrowed an old plow, and began to prepare the ground for a garden. They had not been at home many days when they learned that a couple of men were in Fredericksburg buying bones. Now for miles around Fredericksburg the fields were thick with the bones of worn-out mules and horses, which had died during that long period when the country was occupied by Northern and Southern troops.
As soon as the Taliaferros discovered that these bones were salable, they borrowed from a friend the remnant of a wagon and started out to pick them up. As the result of two days’ work they found they had 2,000 pounds, which they sold for two cents a pound. ‘‘I thought my fortune was made when I got that money,” said Mr. Taliaferro. From that time on they put in every hour of daylight gathering up bones, while the two old negroes were putting in the garden and preparing the ground for corn. They carried on the bone business for a month, when they made a new discovery.
Quantities of old iron were lying on the fields. This they found was also salable, and accordingly they went into the junk business. They were much crippled in their work by the fact that their team was so poor that not more than half a day’s work could possibly be performed because of it.
This had been going on about a month when a great piece of good fortune fell to them. A wing of the Federal army passed near their home, and one night the Taliaferros were visited by two Union officers. They had come, they said, to see if old Mr. Taliaferro was living and in good health. It seems that at the time the Union army had been encamped on and around his plantation the old gentleman had become a great favorite with the officers.
The officers were invited in, and the Taliaferros did their best to get them a good supper. The men were very much pleased with their entertainment, and when they went home, insisted that the boys should go over to the army with their wagon the next day and return their visit. This they did, and when they started to go home, they found that the wagon had been filled with coffee, sugar, bacon, and such.
“Enough supplies,” said Mr. Taliaferro, “to last six months.”
“And not only this but one of the officers went to the quartermaster and said, ‘See here, aren’t you turning loose every day jaded mules which can’t keep up with the army? Don’t you have three or four mules which you know you will soon have to drop out? If so, give them to these men.’
“Well,” said Mr. Taliaferro, “do you know that that man actually brought out four mules and turned them over to us? They were pretty thin and tired, and he apologized for them saying, ‘Do you think you can get them home?’
“The tears just ran down my face. I said, ‘Well, if they can’t walk I’ll carry them.’ We took them home and turned them out to grass, for grass was one thing we did have. The whole country was green with it, and in two months those mules were fat as butter and able to do a full day’s work.
“Outside of grass, the only thing which the country afforded was rabbits and birds. They had been left alone for so long a time while the men were away that they were thick, but we did not have powder or bullets, and for some time did not know exactly how to catch them; but we took up so much lead and so many shells on the battlefield, and were saving them all the time, that at last we got powder by unscrewing the caps off the shells and taking it out, and bullets by melting the lead and running it through holes punched in a piece of tin and letting it run into tubs of cold water. After we got this bullet factory started we had plenty of birds and rabbits.
“We got on pretty well that summer. Our garden was good, and we laid up a good deal for winter, but when winter came it was mighty hard to get wood. There was not any left in the country. I don’t know what we would have done if it hadn’t been for the Yankees’ corduroy roads. They were all through our plantation in every direction. We pulled up the log pieces, which were, of course, water-soaked, and set them up on end in stacks so they would dry out, and for two winters this is how we got our wood.
“It took us five years to get our plantation into shape enough to provide for us and the two old negroes. After that we began to make enough money to buy groceries and clothes.
“But it has been hard work.’’
As soon as the Taliaferros discovered that these bones were salable, they borrowed from a friend the remnant of a wagon and started out to pick them up. As the result of two days’ work they found they had 2,000 pounds, which they sold for two cents a pound. ‘‘I thought my fortune was made when I got that money,” said Mr. Taliaferro. From that time on they put in every hour of daylight gathering up bones, while the two old negroes were putting in the garden and preparing the ground for corn. They carried on the bone business for a month, when they made a new discovery.
Quantities of old iron were lying on the fields. This they found was also salable, and accordingly they went into the junk business. They were much crippled in their work by the fact that their team was so poor that not more than half a day’s work could possibly be performed because of it.
This had been going on about a month when a great piece of good fortune fell to them. A wing of the Federal army passed near their home, and one night the Taliaferros were visited by two Union officers. They had come, they said, to see if old Mr. Taliaferro was living and in good health. It seems that at the time the Union army had been encamped on and around his plantation the old gentleman had become a great favorite with the officers.
The officers were invited in, and the Taliaferros did their best to get them a good supper. The men were very much pleased with their entertainment, and when they went home, insisted that the boys should go over to the army with their wagon the next day and return their visit. This they did, and when they started to go home, they found that the wagon had been filled with coffee, sugar, bacon, and such.
“Enough supplies,” said Mr. Taliaferro, “to last six months.”
“And not only this but one of the officers went to the quartermaster and said, ‘See here, aren’t you turning loose every day jaded mules which can’t keep up with the army? Don’t you have three or four mules which you know you will soon have to drop out? If so, give them to these men.’
“Well,” said Mr. Taliaferro, “do you know that that man actually brought out four mules and turned them over to us? They were pretty thin and tired, and he apologized for them saying, ‘Do you think you can get them home?’
“The tears just ran down my face. I said, ‘Well, if they can’t walk I’ll carry them.’ We took them home and turned them out to grass, for grass was one thing we did have. The whole country was green with it, and in two months those mules were fat as butter and able to do a full day’s work.
“Outside of grass, the only thing which the country afforded was rabbits and birds. They had been left alone for so long a time while the men were away that they were thick, but we did not have powder or bullets, and for some time did not know exactly how to catch them; but we took up so much lead and so many shells on the battlefield, and were saving them all the time, that at last we got powder by unscrewing the caps off the shells and taking it out, and bullets by melting the lead and running it through holes punched in a piece of tin and letting it run into tubs of cold water. After we got this bullet factory started we had plenty of birds and rabbits.
“We got on pretty well that summer. Our garden was good, and we laid up a good deal for winter, but when winter came it was mighty hard to get wood. There was not any left in the country. I don’t know what we would have done if it hadn’t been for the Yankees’ corduroy roads. They were all through our plantation in every direction. We pulled up the log pieces, which were, of course, water-soaked, and set them up on end in stacks so they would dry out, and for two winters this is how we got our wood.
“It took us five years to get our plantation into shape enough to provide for us and the two old negroes. After that we began to make enough money to buy groceries and clothes.
“But it has been hard work.’’
- Some Prosperous Southern Leaders Look Toward Mexico
It is not strange that there were many, particularly of the better class of Southerners, who felt that such conditions as these were not to be tolerated, and who at once declared that the last step in their disbandment was to be taken in a foreign land.
“A good many of the young men of the South will go abroad,” wrote Dr. Brodie Herndon, of Richmond, to Captain Maury in May, “and this is one of the gloomiest features of our future.” Canada, Europe, Brazil were all considered, but Mexico was from the moment of surrender the country in which the greatest number proposed to begin life anew. Indeed for months before the surrender, Mexico had been looked upon by the Confederacy as a place of refuge in case of defeat, and it is probable that many leading Confederates had attempted at least to make overtures to Maximilian similar to that in the following letter of General Kirby Smith:
“A good many of the young men of the South will go abroad,” wrote Dr. Brodie Herndon, of Richmond, to Captain Maury in May, “and this is one of the gloomiest features of our future.” Canada, Europe, Brazil were all considered, but Mexico was from the moment of surrender the country in which the greatest number proposed to begin life anew. Indeed for months before the surrender, Mexico had been looked upon by the Confederacy as a place of refuge in case of defeat, and it is probable that many leading Confederates had attempted at least to make overtures to Maximilian similar to that in the following letter of General Kirby Smith:
Shreveport, La., February 1, 1865
Honorable Robert Rose, Shreveport, La.
“Sir: Whilst in the City of Mexico I desire you—on some fitting occasion, to make known to His Majesty the Emperor that in the case of unexampled catastrophe to our arms and the final overthrow of the government which I have the honor to represent as the military chief of the States west of the Mississippi River, an event I do not now apprehend, but which yet may possibly occur in the future, it is my fixed purpose to leave my native land and seek an asylum in Mexico.
“Bred to the profession of arms, having such education in my profession as the best military schools in the United States offer, with the benefit of foreign travel and some experience, such as is acquired by the command of armies actively engaged in the field for more than two years, it is my desire still to continue in the exercise of the profession of my choice.
“Having some knowledge of the French and Spanish languages, and having been on duty once on the Mexican frontier, my humble services and such influence as I could exert might be rendered available to His Majesty’s Government. I therefore authorize you to tender my services to him in the possibility of the contingency alluded to above.
“The national antipathy that would exist in the minds of many citizens of the Confederate States to those of the North, together with their intelligence, endurance, and daring as soldiers, might in contemplation of possible collision between the Imperial Government and the United States of the North, render very desirable such a corps of Southern soldiers as might be induced by the offer of liberal terms to colonize the Empire, and thus greatly strengthen it.
“Should you find that this offer and the accompanying views are not wholly inappropriate to be attended to, you will please tender my service to the Emperor, and at the same time assure him of my heartfelt wish for the eminent success of his reign, and the honor, welfare, and happiness of his people.
“I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,”
E. Kirby Smith, General
It was towards Mexico, then, that hundreds turned when they found themselves free, and it was there that the only colony of Confederates of any importance was realized. This was founded and conducted by the eminent hydrographer, Captain M. F. Maury.
Captain Maury had been sent to England by the Confederate Government in 1862 to perfect his submarine torpedoes. Already his inventions had done great damage to the Federal navy, and Captain Maury hoped to perfect them so that they would do more.
In May 1865, he sailed for the South, not knowing then of Lee’s surrender. When the news reached him in the West Indies, he considered it unsafe to go back to the United States, and decided to go to Mexico and offer the Emperor his services. He reached Mexico in June of 1865, and was warmly welcomed by the Emperor and Empress. He was offered a position in the Ministry, but declined it, preferring the appointment of Director to the Imperial Observatory.
In this position he planned a colony of Confederates in his new home.
He explained his idea in a letter to one of his friends:
“In contemplating this shipwreck of country, kinsmen, and friends, I recognized among the debris of the wreck the very materials that are required to build, upon good and solid foundations, the Mexican Empire. Since the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, never has such a class of people been found willing to expatriate themselves. From such a wreck, Mexico may gather and transfer to her own borders the very intelligence, skill, and labor which made the South what she was in her palmy days—except her bondage.”
Maury’s scheme for a colony of Confederates in Mexico pleased Maximilian. It was at once adopted, and Maury himself appointed Imperial Minister for Colonization. He succeeded in persuading one of his sons to join him, as well as a number of his friends.
By November 1865, he was writing from the “Office of Colonization” that he was selling lands near Cordova at one dollar an acre, at five years’ credit, as fast as they could be served, and that there were already about forty Southern people there, and that several of the men had sent for their families. Maury estimated that by the time the land was paid for it would be worth $20, $30, and even $100 an acre, and he gave his friends the most glowing descriptions of coffee growing wild, and fig trees 100 feet high and three feet in circumference, and of luscious pineapples at one cent apiece.
On March 1 1866, he wrote that two shiploads of immigrants had just arrived, and that everything was going well in the Carlotta Colony. Very soon after this Maury went to England, where his family had been living for some time. Not long after his departure such pressure was brought to bear on Maximilian by his enemies, that the Emperor was obliged to abandon the colonization scheme. The fall of the government which came soon after prevented the plan ever being revived. [See Footnote #6 for more detailed information on Captain Maury]
Captain Maury had been sent to England by the Confederate Government in 1862 to perfect his submarine torpedoes. Already his inventions had done great damage to the Federal navy, and Captain Maury hoped to perfect them so that they would do more.
In May 1865, he sailed for the South, not knowing then of Lee’s surrender. When the news reached him in the West Indies, he considered it unsafe to go back to the United States, and decided to go to Mexico and offer the Emperor his services. He reached Mexico in June of 1865, and was warmly welcomed by the Emperor and Empress. He was offered a position in the Ministry, but declined it, preferring the appointment of Director to the Imperial Observatory.
In this position he planned a colony of Confederates in his new home.
He explained his idea in a letter to one of his friends:
“In contemplating this shipwreck of country, kinsmen, and friends, I recognized among the debris of the wreck the very materials that are required to build, upon good and solid foundations, the Mexican Empire. Since the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, never has such a class of people been found willing to expatriate themselves. From such a wreck, Mexico may gather and transfer to her own borders the very intelligence, skill, and labor which made the South what she was in her palmy days—except her bondage.”
Maury’s scheme for a colony of Confederates in Mexico pleased Maximilian. It was at once adopted, and Maury himself appointed Imperial Minister for Colonization. He succeeded in persuading one of his sons to join him, as well as a number of his friends.
By November 1865, he was writing from the “Office of Colonization” that he was selling lands near Cordova at one dollar an acre, at five years’ credit, as fast as they could be served, and that there were already about forty Southern people there, and that several of the men had sent for their families. Maury estimated that by the time the land was paid for it would be worth $20, $30, and even $100 an acre, and he gave his friends the most glowing descriptions of coffee growing wild, and fig trees 100 feet high and three feet in circumference, and of luscious pineapples at one cent apiece.
On March 1 1866, he wrote that two shiploads of immigrants had just arrived, and that everything was going well in the Carlotta Colony. Very soon after this Maury went to England, where his family had been living for some time. Not long after his departure such pressure was brought to bear on Maximilian by his enemies, that the Emperor was obliged to abandon the colonization scheme. The fall of the government which came soon after prevented the plan ever being revived. [See Footnote #6 for more detailed information on Captain Maury]
- General Robert E. Lee’s Personal Impact Unifies and Uplifts the South
That no larger numbers joined Maury or went into other similar colonies was due partly, no doubt, to the general poverty, but largely to the influence which from the day of his surrender General Lee exerted on the men of the South.
He, like the rest, knew nothing of the course the United States Government would take towards him. His property was gone, and he must start at the bottom again. Whether he would be free or a prisoner he did not know, but he at once announced his determination of abiding by the decision of the government to which he had surrendered, and if allowed to do it, to engage in some work which would be useful in restoring the South. [See Footnote #7 for more detailed information on why General Robert E. Lee might have faced imprisonment if not for the intervention of General Ulysses S. Grant.]
General Robert E. Lee wrote a correspondent, “At the first cessation of hostilities, I considered that the South required her sons more than at any former part of her history to sustain and restore her, that though many might find comfortable homes in a foreign land, what would become of the Southern States and the citizens who abided in them?’’
Captain Maury’s son, Colonel R. L. Maury, tried to interest General Lee in his father’s scheme for a colony of Confederates in Mexico. The General declined:
“I have entertained the opinion that unless prevented by circumstances or necessity, it would be better for themselves and the country that the people of the South remain at their homes and share the fate of their respective States.”
To Captain Maury he wrote:
“The thought of abandoning the country and all that must be left in it is abhorrent to my feelings. I prefer to struggle for its restoration and share its fate rather than to give up all as lost. … I shall be sorry if your presence be lost to Virginia; she has now need for all of her sons and can ill afford to spare you.”
To scores of others who sought his advice he wrote in similar vein. Nor was he alone in this attitude.
When General Wade Hampton was besought to head a colony of emigrants, he replied:
“The very fact that our State is passing through so terrible an ordeal as the present should cause her sons to cling the more closely to her.
“My advice to all of my fellow-citizens is that they should devote their whole energies to the restoration of law and order, the reestablishment of agriculture and commerce, the promotion of education, and the rebuilding of our cities and dwellings which have been laid in ashes.”
Indeed, the majority of the leading men of the South said with General Lee and General Hampton that their States had never needed them so much, and that they should stand by them.
Gradually those who at first had felt that the humiliation and uncertainty of their new position were too great to be endured returned, as did Maury, and lent their aid. Inspired by these noble examples, the rank-and-file of the disbanded army faced their hard situation like the brave men they were, and joined patiently in one of the gravest tasks in the history of the world—the Reconstruction of the South.
The story of the self-control of these disbanded men in the situation in which they found themselves when they reached their homes, of their courage, their patience, their effort, forms one of the finest chapters of heroism in the History of the United States.
He, like the rest, knew nothing of the course the United States Government would take towards him. His property was gone, and he must start at the bottom again. Whether he would be free or a prisoner he did not know, but he at once announced his determination of abiding by the decision of the government to which he had surrendered, and if allowed to do it, to engage in some work which would be useful in restoring the South. [See Footnote #7 for more detailed information on why General Robert E. Lee might have faced imprisonment if not for the intervention of General Ulysses S. Grant.]
General Robert E. Lee wrote a correspondent, “At the first cessation of hostilities, I considered that the South required her sons more than at any former part of her history to sustain and restore her, that though many might find comfortable homes in a foreign land, what would become of the Southern States and the citizens who abided in them?’’
Captain Maury’s son, Colonel R. L. Maury, tried to interest General Lee in his father’s scheme for a colony of Confederates in Mexico. The General declined:
“I have entertained the opinion that unless prevented by circumstances or necessity, it would be better for themselves and the country that the people of the South remain at their homes and share the fate of their respective States.”
To Captain Maury he wrote:
“The thought of abandoning the country and all that must be left in it is abhorrent to my feelings. I prefer to struggle for its restoration and share its fate rather than to give up all as lost. … I shall be sorry if your presence be lost to Virginia; she has now need for all of her sons and can ill afford to spare you.”
To scores of others who sought his advice he wrote in similar vein. Nor was he alone in this attitude.
When General Wade Hampton was besought to head a colony of emigrants, he replied:
“The very fact that our State is passing through so terrible an ordeal as the present should cause her sons to cling the more closely to her.
“My advice to all of my fellow-citizens is that they should devote their whole energies to the restoration of law and order, the reestablishment of agriculture and commerce, the promotion of education, and the rebuilding of our cities and dwellings which have been laid in ashes.”
Indeed, the majority of the leading men of the South said with General Lee and General Hampton that their States had never needed them so much, and that they should stand by them.
Gradually those who at first had felt that the humiliation and uncertainty of their new position were too great to be endured returned, as did Maury, and lent their aid. Inspired by these noble examples, the rank-and-file of the disbanded army faced their hard situation like the brave men they were, and joined patiently in one of the gravest tasks in the history of the world—the Reconstruction of the South.
The story of the self-control of these disbanded men in the situation in which they found themselves when they reached their homes, of their courage, their patience, their effort, forms one of the finest chapters of heroism in the History of the United States.
Footnotes
#1 Parched corn: A variety of parched grains have been used historically as a camp ration, especially for military troops. Because parching both cooks the corn grain, and removes most of the water content, it is useful as a way to have pre-cooked meals which can be stored or carried for extended periods. It also weighs the same or slightly less than the uncooked grains. It can be eaten without re-heating—either dry or soaked in water, so it both reduces cooking times and also allows troops to travel without any campfires.
#2 Parole is “an agreement between a prisoner of war and their captors that the prisoner, upon release, will not again take up arms against those who captured them—in this case the United States, for a defined time period or for the duration of the war.”
#3 The Minié ball was a muzzle-loaded, spin-stabilizing rifle bullet. It first came to prominence during the Crimean War, due to its efficiency and accuracy, and Minié-derived weapons became the most commonly used firearms in the Civil War.
#4 A corduroy road is another name for a log road. It is a timber road constructed of logs placed side-by-side in a perpendicular direction across the road. It is an improvement over a possibly impassable mud or dirt road, but it is rough in the best of conditions and they are a hazard to horses due to shifting loose logs.
#5 In this article “darky” has been replaced in three places with “negro.” This seems fitting to do to keep the reader focused on the main topic of this article. It appears to this author that "darky" was in common usage in the day and used in a non-pejorative sense until "negro" became more common and accepted.
#6 Maury himself remained in England, where his scientific friends presented him with a testimonial of 3,000 guineas. He was employed by the French and English governments to perfect their system of sea mining, and he opened a school of instruction in electrical torpedoes, to which the governments of Europe sent officers. Later he prepared the well-known series of school geographies, and in 1868 was given the degree of LL.D. at Cambridge at the same time that Tennyson und Max Muller received their degrees. The proclamation of a general amnesty the same year made it possible for Maury to return to the United States, where he accepted the chair of Physics at the Virginia Military Institute. Thus, after threes, he joined General Lee in his noble effort to revive the South by instructing the young generation.
#7 The imprisonment of General Robert E. Lee became a strong possibility with the assassination of President Lincoln. His successor, President Johnson, was intent on “punishing” the South and its people for the insurrection. A. B. Farquhar wrote of General Grant’s confrontation with President Johnson to ensure that Robert E. Lee remained free and available to help rebuild the South—as Abraham Lincoln had desired. This is covered in detail in Farquhar’s book: An Autobiography of A. B. Farquhar, and a summary of this incident is available without leaving this website: General Grant's Stand Against President Johnson.
#1 Parched corn: A variety of parched grains have been used historically as a camp ration, especially for military troops. Because parching both cooks the corn grain, and removes most of the water content, it is useful as a way to have pre-cooked meals which can be stored or carried for extended periods. It also weighs the same or slightly less than the uncooked grains. It can be eaten without re-heating—either dry or soaked in water, so it both reduces cooking times and also allows troops to travel without any campfires.
#2 Parole is “an agreement between a prisoner of war and their captors that the prisoner, upon release, will not again take up arms against those who captured them—in this case the United States, for a defined time period or for the duration of the war.”
#3 The Minié ball was a muzzle-loaded, spin-stabilizing rifle bullet. It first came to prominence during the Crimean War, due to its efficiency and accuracy, and Minié-derived weapons became the most commonly used firearms in the Civil War.
#4 A corduroy road is another name for a log road. It is a timber road constructed of logs placed side-by-side in a perpendicular direction across the road. It is an improvement over a possibly impassable mud or dirt road, but it is rough in the best of conditions and they are a hazard to horses due to shifting loose logs.
#5 In this article “darky” has been replaced in three places with “negro.” This seems fitting to do to keep the reader focused on the main topic of this article. It appears to this author that "darky" was in common usage in the day and used in a non-pejorative sense until "negro" became more common and accepted.
#6 Maury himself remained in England, where his scientific friends presented him with a testimonial of 3,000 guineas. He was employed by the French and English governments to perfect their system of sea mining, and he opened a school of instruction in electrical torpedoes, to which the governments of Europe sent officers. Later he prepared the well-known series of school geographies, and in 1868 was given the degree of LL.D. at Cambridge at the same time that Tennyson und Max Muller received their degrees. The proclamation of a general amnesty the same year made it possible for Maury to return to the United States, where he accepted the chair of Physics at the Virginia Military Institute. Thus, after threes, he joined General Lee in his noble effort to revive the South by instructing the young generation.
#7 The imprisonment of General Robert E. Lee became a strong possibility with the assassination of President Lincoln. His successor, President Johnson, was intent on “punishing” the South and its people for the insurrection. A. B. Farquhar wrote of General Grant’s confrontation with President Johnson to ensure that Robert E. Lee remained free and available to help rebuild the South—as Abraham Lincoln had desired. This is covered in detail in Farquhar’s book: An Autobiography of A. B. Farquhar, and a summary of this incident is available without leaving this website: General Grant's Stand Against President Johnson.
For the contrast between returning home as a Union Soldier instead of a Confederate Soldier, this author recommends reading the Ida M. Tarbell article found on this website that discusses "The Disbanding of the Union Army" which can be found here: [Disbanding the Union Army]