Very respectfully,

U.S.  GRANT, Lieutenant-General.

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA,

April 9,1865.

Lieut.-General U.S.  Grant, commanding U.S.A.: 

GENERAL:  I have received your letter of this date, containing the terms of surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, as proposed by you.  As they are substantially the same as those expressed in your letter of the 8th inst., they are accepted.  I will proceed to designate the proper officers to carry the stipulations into effect.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

R.E.  LEE, General.

The two generals then bowed to each other, and, leaving the house,
General Lee mounted his gray, and rode back to his headquarters.

The scene as he passed through the army was affecting.  The men gathered round him, wrung his hand, and in broken words called upon God to help him.  This pathetic reception by his old soldiers profoundly affected Lee.  The tears came to his eyes, and, looking at the men with a glance of proud feeling, he said, in suppressed tones, which trembled slightly:  “We have fought through the war together.  I have done the best I could for you.  My heart is too full to say more!”

These few words seemed to be all he could utter.  He rode on, and, reaching his headquarters in the woods, disappeared in his tent, whither we shall not follow him.

On the next day the Army of Northern Virginia, numbering about twenty-six thousand men, of whom but seven thousand eight hundred carried muskets, was formally surrendered, and the Confederate War was a thing of the past.

XVII.

LEE RETURNS TO RICHMOND.

General Lee, on the day following the capitulation of his army, issued an address to his old soldiers, which they received and read with very deep emotion.  The address was in these words: 

HEADQUARTERS ARMY NORTHERN VIRGINIA,

April 10, 1865.

After four years of arduous service, marked by unsurpassed courage and fortitude, the Army of Northern Virginia has been compelled to yield to overwhelming numbers and resources.

I need not tell the survivors of so many hard-fought battles, who have remained steadfast to the last, that I have consented to this result from no distrust of them; but, feeling that valor and devotion could accomplish nothing that could compensate for the loss that would have attended the continuation of the contest, I have determined to avoid the useless sacrifice of those whose past services have endeared them to their countrymen.

By the terms of agreement, officers and men can return to their homes and remain there until exchanged.

You will take with you the satisfaction that proceeds from the consciousness of duty faithfully performed; and I earnestly pray that a merciful God will extend to you His blessing and protection.