With an unceasing admiration of your constancy and devotion to your country, and a grateful remembrance of your kind and generous consideration of myself, I bid you an affectionate farewell.

R.E.  LEE, General.

The painful arrangements connected with the capitulation were on this day concluded; and General Lee prepared to set out on his return to Richmond—­like his men, a “paroled prisoner of the Army of Northern Virginia.”  The parting between him and his soldiers was pathetic.  He exchanged with all near him a close pressure of the hand, uttered a few simple words of farewell, and, mounting his iron-gray, “Traveller,” who had passed through all the fighting of the campaign unharmed, rode slowly in the direction of Richmond.  He was escorted by a detachment of Federal cavalry, preceded only by a guidon; and the party, including the officers who accompanied him, consisted of about twenty-five horsemen.  The cortege was followed by several wagons carrying the private effects of himself and his companions, and by the well-known old black open vehicle which he had occasionally used during the campaigns of the preceding year, when indisposition prevented him from mounting his horse.  In this vehicle it had been his custom to carry stores for the wounded—­it had never been used for articles contributing to his personal convenience.

General Lee’s demeanor on his way to Richmond was entirely composed, and his thoughts seemed much more occupied by the unfortunate condition of the poor people, at whose houses he stopped, than by his own situation.  When he found that all along his route the impoverished people had cooked provisions in readiness for him, and were looking anxiously for him, with every indication of love and admiration, he said to one of his officers:  “These good people are kind—­too kind.  Their hearts are as full as when we began our first campaigns in 1861.  They do too much—­more than they are able to do—­for us.”

His soldierly habits remained unchanged, and he seemed unwilling to indulge in any luxuries or comforts which could not be shared by the gentlemen accompanying him At a house which he reached just as night came, a poor woman had prepared an excellent bed for him, but, with a courteous shake of the head, he spread his blanket, and slept upon the floor.  Stopping on the next day at the house of his brother, Charles Carter Lee, in Powhatan, he spent the evening in conversation; but, when bedtime came, left the house, in spite of the fact that it had begun to rain, and, crossing the road into the woods, took up his quarters for the night on the hard planks of his old black vehicle.  On the route he exhibited great solicitude about a small quantity of oats which he had brought with him, in one of the wagons, for his old companion, “Traveller,” mentioning it more than once, and appearing anxious lest it should be lost or used by some one.

[Illustration:  LEE’S ENTRY INTO RICHMOND AFTER THE SURRENDER.]