which had been a federal institution and had been built at the cost of a million dollars. it would serve as the sentry on the savanna river that would allow traffic of seven goods to get out to the open sea. the eighth maine regimen under captain william macarthur, a guy of wilmington, maine, was working the batteries these rifles. 2.5 miles downriver from fort polaski. they were cannons that had rifling in them. that allowed a projectile coming out of the muzzle of the canon to work in a spiral, which meant that it would go farther, and would be more accurate. than anything the use before. the union army had access to these parent rifles. the union troops that sent notice to charles olmsted, the commander of fort polaski that we are going to bombard you, and we really think you want to give up.

finally, in april of 1862 northern troops began bombarding for polaski. the amazing thing was, they could hit everything they were aiming at from a distance they laid outside of the ability of the confederates to land a telling blow in return. the closer they got to the magazine, the more quickly commander olmsted was able to fly the flag of surrender and give for polaski over to the union. and in effect, inform robbery lee that the blockade of southern ports was going to work, because the union had technology that was going to overcome anything the confederates could do to answer it. they couldn't counter the parent rifles that the union army had. we hope to be doing a lot of digitizing and scanning of the correspondence because it contains a lot of genealogical information that will be of interest families. a lot of the families who did not return, of soldiers to maine, but whose family members

would now like to know, what did there great, great, grandfather do during the war. we look at this election being of infinite value in shedding light on not just maine's past, but means present and perhaps looking at maine's future. >> back now to american history tvs live coverage of the seminar on the closing of the civil war in the spring of 1865. 150 years ago, this spring. we are live at longwood university in farmville, virginia. this event is an all-day seminar, cohosted by longwood university and appomattox court house national historical park. in just a few moments, the final presentation of the day with mark bradley on closing civil war operations in north carolina. again, live coverage of american history tv, here on c-span3.

>> we are live at longwood university in farmville -- farm would virginia. one of the cohosted today's events. the closing of the civil war 150 years ago this bring. the last presentation of the day, fort fisher to bennett place, closing operations in north carolina with mark bradley, scheduled to get underway at this time it. it should get started here shortly. live on c-span3. you can watch all of today's events here at longwood university tonight. we rear them 6 p.m. eastern time on american history tv on c-span3. and tomorrow, we are back for the final day of longwood of war seminar, -- longwood's civil war seminar. the closing operations in north carolina should get started here shortly live on american history tv.

>> we need to get rolling with her last speaker here. i think your sees been friends are going to have some deadlier -- dead air on their hands. grab your seats, this is the last program. the great day to be inside, the rain is coming down. you can go to sailor's creek into the visitor center. david, if you will come up and introduce our next speaker. >> thank you, patrick. our next speaker, we are going to change gears. we have been focusing on the campaigns in virginia and appomattox. mark bradley will be speaking about what were the final

military operations in the surrender in north carolina. obviously, appomattox wasn't the very end, but things continued on for a month and a half after that. dr. bradley is a historian who works the u.s. army center for military history in washington currently. he is working on a book on the vietnam war. he has moved a little far field from civil war activities. he has a phd from the university of north carolina, which i think beat uva yesterday, so don't gloat great people like that here. -- people won't like that here. he is received numerous awards, and two of his major works, and this astounding close, the road to bennett place, last stand in the carolinas, the battle of bentonville. he has written a number of book reviews for various journals, as well as different articles and books. his topic today is fort fisher

to the bennett place, closing operations in north carolina. dr. bradley. [applause] >> thank you, david. can everyone hear me ok? all right. we have watched the army's of grant and lee moving across the virginia landscape from the siege of petersburg to the surrendered appomattox courthouse. now i'm going to take a detour. we are going to make a sharp turn south, and we're going to turn back the clock. we're going to go back to december of 1864. and we are going to follow this man, general william t sherman. and his progress in what he believes in hopes will be his final campaign of the war. sherman grant are pursuing the grand strategy that they formulated in march of 1864.

in cincinnati, ohio. the idea was to keep the army's in the east and in the west, the confederate army's so busy that they cannot reinforce each other. and i have a repeat fiasco of the battle of chickamauga. the strategy is working. slowly, but inexorably. while grant keeps lee's army bottled up around the trenches of petersburg in richmond, sherman captures atlanta georgia, in september of 1864. on december 16, the army of the cumberland general george h thomas crushes the army of tennessee, the confederacy's second-largest field army, and one week later, general sherman completes his march from atlanta to the sea by presenting the city of savannah georgia to president abraham lincoln as a christmas gift.

now, sherman is looking ahead to his next campaign. he is going to make a march through the carolinas, moving his army group northward to richmond, virginia. there he will join forces with general grant, and together, they will crush lee's army and bring the war to a victorious conclusion. sherman plans to launch his campaign and january of 1865. but torrential winter rain prevents that from happening. he is forced to delay his campaign to the following month. in the meantime, general grant decides to launch a second expedition to capture fort fisher, and close wilmington north carolina, the last blockade running seaport the confederacy and in effect close the lifeline of the confederacy as it is called. the first expedition went badly.

gender -- general benjamin f butler launch that x with rear admiral david d porter. but without even attempting an attack on the fort, butler decided to abandon the campaign and return to virginia. grant probably stacked at and replaced him with brigadier general alfred h 28. and in effect, he gets a better general, and he gets a much easier man to live with. both butler and porter are prima donnas. they don't get along well at all. in fact, that bad blood goes back to 1862, but with terry at the helm of the army components, that will be a problem. the two men soon find that work well together. terry will also have a large force at his disposal, close to 10,000 infantry, including a division of black troops. well porter will lead in our

model of 58 warships. -- an armada of 58 warships. now, commanding the coastal defenses below wilmington, none other than general braxton bragg. by this late stage in the war there is probably only one person in the south who still believes in bragg. but he happens to be the commander-in-chief, jefferson davis. davis appointed senior military advisor is the commander of the defenses around wilmington. in effect, superseding the previous commander, major general william henry chase waiting period -- chase whiting. colonel william lamb is also the four chief architect. lamb is a quick learner he is

learning military engineering on the fly in 1852 when the federal's attack and reduce for polaski from atlanta georgia, and reduce that fort to rubble. he decides to build his fort out of sand. also, it's nice the fact that there is plenty of building material there on the beach. by the fall of 1864, fort fisher is the most imposing seacoast fortifications. it boasts 47 guns. that may seem like a lot. but the union fleet out guns the fisher defenses on the order of almost 10 to one. in fact, the largest union warship, the colorado, both 55 guns alone. now, the federal seat appears at

fort fisher on the afternoon of april 12 and proceed to bombard the fort over two and a half days, they fire more than 19,000 rounds. and knock out all but two guns on the northern land face. in the meantime, general bragg and wilmington has refused to send reinforcements south for the notable attack. -- the inevitable attack. when whiting gets to fort fisher, he says lamb, my boy i've come to share your fate. we are to be sacrificed. after that massive bombardment the federal's launched their assault. attacking the northeast bastion marines and sailors armed with cutlasses and pistols, attacking a position defended by artillery. they are easily repulsed

however, they give the army in opportunity to gain a foothold inside the fort off to and after desperate hand-to-hand fighting that lasted well into the night, of which both writing and lamb are severely wounded. and now lee's lifeline is cut. but the city of wilmington itself remains in confederate hands, and it will require another campaign to capture it. now general sherman decides to begin his campaign on february 1, 1865. he moves his 60,000 man army group into south carolina. the left wing is commanded by henry slocum. the right wing is commanded by the one armed major general oliver o howard, who commands

the 15th and 17th court -- core rps. the cavalry division under general kilpatrick, 60,000 men in all. opposing this force our confederates -- general pgt beauregard. beauregard very obligingly calls for something that sherman does regularly, and that is to faint on given locations off to the east or off to the west to keep the confederates guessing as to what his objective is. in this case, in entering south carolina and sherman thanks to the northwest towards augusta with his cavalry. charleston is the cradle of secession. wanted for its symbolic value while the city of augusta is

also a desirable target. in effect, beauregard opens the road to colombia, the state capital, for sherman. with minimal interference, sherman reaches columbia on february 17, 1865. by this point it is clear to the confederacy's new general in chief, that beauregard is not up to the task of stopping sherman. on february 22, he directs general joseph johnson, who has been living in virtual retirement since his removal from the army of tennessee in july of 1864 -- he appoints johnson to command those troops. he says, concentrate all available forces and drive back sherman. at this point, johnson is saying, with what? in the words of the cavalry chief, wade hampton, it would

scarcely have been possible to disperse the force more effectually. they are the remnants of the army of tennessee. there is lieutenant general william j. hardy's core. the garrison that defended charleston, they are retreating to sherman's right. third, once the federal's cross into north carolina, the department in north carolina troops under braxton bragg. and finally, the one force that had been opposing sherman's advance, the cavalry under general hampton. hampton arrives from the army of northern virginia. he arrives in south carolina his home state just-in-time to see his family home, millwood, burned to the ground, along with a lot of other buildings in columbia, south carolina. no pun intended, hampton is burning for revenge. the opportunity is presented to him a few days after the two

armies cross into north carolina. hampton and kilpatrick have been skirmishing almost constantly during their progress. kilpatrick managed to steal a march around hampton's force, and he's gotten between the confederate cavalry and infantry under hardy. kilpatrick sets up a series of roadblocks to prevent hampton from reaching the town of fayetteville and joining forces with party. -- hardy. he presents hampton with an ideal opportunity to concentrate on an isolated part of the cavalry at munro's crossroads. it just so happens that kilpatrick's headquarters are located there. it is at dawn on march 10 1865 that hampton launches a surprise attack on kilpatrick's camp, succeeds in sweeping everything before him, writhing the federal's into a swamp.

that attack is so successful that the confederates are disorganized, giving the federal's an opportunity to counterattack and drive the confederates out of their camp. kilpatrick manages to avoid being captured. the confederates are now free to march into fayetteville. however, union infantry are endlessly delighted by this embarrassing encounter that kilpatrick has with hampton at munro's crossroad. they nickname this battle kilpatrick shirttail skedaddle. sherman reaches fayetteville on the following day, march 11. promptly orders the first michigan engineers and mechanics to burn the former u.s. arsenal there. he will rest his army there until march the 15th, when he will begin the final stage of his progress to his destination. in the meantime, on fairbury

22nd 1865, department of north carolina troops commanded by major general john m. schofield capture wilmington. schofield has been transferred east from nashville, tennessee with the 23rd army corps. they are joining terry's forces. now there is going to be a new objective. sherman is going to be headed towards goldsboro. i will be his first destination where he will refit his army before beginning -- continuing the march into virginia. it's up to the 23rd corps commanded by general jacob d. potts to secure goldsboro for sherman. guess who's in his way? general bragg's troops consisting of general robert f. hoax division from the army of northern virginia, and the remnants of the army of tennessee troops, who average north carolina at this point. say what you will about bragg at least he ate timid. -- ain't timid.

he launches an attack on forces a few miles east of kinston on march 8 and succeeds in routing a portion of cox's forces, capturing 800 federals and one canon. things look pretty good for the confederates on the first day but then the second day cox brings up reinforcement. the federals dig in. bragg attempts an attack on the tense, but he's repulsed. receiving words that cox is receiving still more reinforcements, bragg decides to fall back towards goldsboro ending the battle of lysis forks. in the meantime, sherman plots the course of his army group from fayetteville. goldsboro is his objective, but he wants to keep johnston guessing as to what his objective is. he's going to send the left wing under slocum northward on the

old raleigh stage road, as if he's heading towards the north carolina state capital. they will be marching in light marching order, all the unnecessary wagons will be with the right wing under howard. they will be taking direct roads to goldsboro. the idea is to keep johnston up in the air as to where sherman is heading. johnston has a plan of his own. he has told general hardy to make a stand somewhere south of a verse broke to buy time for the concentration of the federal -- confedereateate army. it's there that a brigade commander by the name of colonel offered am. -- the colonel accompanied by nothing more than one staff officer -- he is

probably captured, taken prisoner of war by kilpatrick's chief of staff. this turns out to be something of a reunion, because it seems the general sherman and several of his subordinates were stationed in charleston before the war. they spend the evening together and have dinner. and then the following morning, sherman's army moves out. sherman has accompanied slocum's wing. they find hardy drawn up in the defense mac apps. for you students of the revolutionary war, this looks like the gelber courthouse. sherman is able to drive back the first two lines, but he gets to the third and main line around dusk. he decides to launch a general assault the following morning. however, after dark, hard he falls back towards smithfield. that is were johnson has made his headquarters. he informs johnston that he

believes that sherman's destination is goldsboro. now most of the left wing is turning to the right, heading east on the goldsboro road. johnson has made his headquarters at smithfield because it's roughly midway between raleigh and goldsboro. hardy managed to accomplish what he was supposed to do, which was slow sherman's progress. i now johnston has to make a decision. where and if he should attack sherman's army. he sends a dispatch to general hampton. hampton has made his headquarters on the evening of march 17 at the willis: plantation -- willis cole plantation on the goldsboro road. hampton -- johnson asks hampton for his assessment.

hampton says i found a perfect place to launch a surprise attack on the union left wing. and he recommends that johnson sent his army marching for bentonville. at dawn on march 18, johnston does just that. up to this time, general sherman has expected johnston to try to oppose his entry into goldsboro. but faulty intelligence and poor maps lead him to believe that johnston is falling back towards raleigh, confederates are burning all the bridges that will separate them from the union army, and that the road to goldsboro is open. if there's anything in the union army that is dangerous right now, it's overconfidence. in the words of lieutenant john marshall brain them, one of the soldiers in the left-wing. he said, on the morning of march 19 he writes in his diary, we feel in excellent spirits. everything promises for a smooth

entry into goldsboro. that will prove to be his last entry. he will be lying dead on the field of battle in just a few hours. sherman prepares to join the right wing under howard. he has a brief conversation with slocum and several other generals including 14th corps commander brigadier general jefferson c. davis. isn't that a great name for a yankee general? precious perfect. davis tells sherman he thinks he's going to run into more than the usual confederate cavalry opposition. sherman says, no, there's nothing out there. just a small division of confederate cavalry. he says, brush them out of the way. i will see you at cox's bridge tomorrow. well slocum's wing will not reach cox's bridge for four

days. leading the way on the morning of march 19, william p. carlin's division, moving out. then all of a sudden they hit the cole plantation. all hell breaks loose. carlin has run into hokes' infantry. one of the bird rates, north carolina junior reserves consisting almost entirely of teenage boys, are blocking the way. you can see them just yet. off to their left, army of tennessee is also going into position. there are fewer than 4000 veterans from the army of tennessee at bentonville. just a shadow of the 70,000 man army that johnston led in the spring of 1864. but the attack plan is developing. slocum is getting impatient. he can't understand why his veteran infantry is allowing his cavalry to stop them. he orders a probing attack to

find out what is out there. carlin's division sustains a bloody repulse and they are sent back. and now slocum decides he will send his other division of the 14th corps up to the front, and the 20th corps. then he receives startling intelligence. a union pow who has made his escape during that federal repulse reports to slocum that johnston has arrived with his entire army. -- army at bentonville. he has told his men they're going to defeat slocum at bentonville. they're going to fall on the right wing to the south and destroy them in turn. if that's not enough convincing, slocum also hears from a 14th corps staff officer who has been up at the front. that officer says, general, i find more than [indiscernible] cavalry. i find infantry dug in all along

our front, and enough of them to give us the amusement we shall want for the rest of the day. now slocum realizes he's in for it. he lives his two a 14th corps divisions at the front to stop the impending assault. he takes the 20th corps and has them entrenched back at the reddick morris farm on more defensible ground about a mile to the rear. now all he can do is just wait. in the meantime he starts sending couriers to general sherman with increasingly urgent messages telling him of his peril and begging him for reinforcements. it's going to take them close to 24 hours to reach bentonville. in the meantime, slocum has to hold on. after johnston -- for johnson this has been frustrating. it is not until 2:45 on march 19 that he finally launches his

attack. at first everything works perfectly. in the words of a confederate with the junior reserves when the army of tennessee moves out and they begin their assault he said it looked like a picture and was truly beautiful, but it was painful to see just how close the battle flags were together. regiments being scarcely larger than [inaudible] there were enough confederates to drive back carlin's division north of the road, and in turn, push the men of carlin's division south of the road back as well. we stood as long as man can stand. when i was no longer a possibility, we run like the deuce. if that did not get the point across, he also wrote, we showed to the reds as well as our own side some of the best running ever did. [laughter]

everything looks good for joe johnson's confederates at this point. there's just one problem. south of the road, general bragg, he holds fast. we don't know why exactly. he never wrote a report. we know he did not launch his attack until over an hour after johnston's specified the attack. that gives the men of morgan's division the federal south of the road a precious hour and 15 minutes to dig in and prove their entrenchment's. it serves them well. in the course of the fighting side of the road, the turning point of the battle, morgan's men have to fight on both sides of their works because they are attacked from their front left flanks. after they are repulsed, troops of the army of tennessee managed to get in behind. but morgan's men hold on. in the meantime, the momentum is

still strong north of the road. the men of culver's division and the army of tennessee. they continue on to the reddick morris farm. here two old adversaries face each other. they first met in 1862. they met for the second time just a few days before. now they're meeting again at bentonville. this we the confederate army's high water mark at bentonville. the tennessee veterans will launch at least four desperate assaults across morris's openview straight into the mouths of at least 16 union guns firing spherical case and canister.

confederates are unable to break through the union line. at nightfall, johnston calls off all further attacks. slocum managed to hold on in the battle on march 19. ends on a draw. now it's up to the right wing. they come marching to slocum's assistance. they reach bentonville around midday. the first troops to get there are the 15th army corps under the command of major general john a dull logan, former congressman from illinois. probably the best political general in the union army. now johnston faces a real dilemma. he has been facing slocum to the west of to this point. now he's got a deal with the might of sherman's entire army. he has to bend back his left flank. in effect, he's going to create a bridge guarding his only route of retreat across a flooded millcreek.

by early morning march 21, 1865, johnston will be outnumbered on the order of 3 to 1. the federals will have nearly 60,000 troops at bentonville. johnston will have 20,000 that most. sherman is wondering why johnston decided to stay at bentonville. this is not typical johnston behavior. johnston cites two reasons why he's going to her main at bentonville. one, he wants to evacuate his wounded. two, he wants to tap sherman into launching a desperate frontal assault. maybe he can take some heavy yankee casualties before he pulls out. three, he doesn't say this, but i think this is also in the back of his head. it appears to the confederates at bentonville that on the 19th it came this close to defeating slcoum's -- slocum's wing. to retreat at this point is to concede defeat.

to bolster the morale of his men , who have not enjoyed success in a very long time, johnston decides to remain at bentonville. he feels it is worth the risk but it nearly results in the loss of his army. on the afternoon of march 21, 1865, sherman's most aggressive general goes into position on the extreme right of the union line. he is facing bentonville. he asks his commander, he says, i don't suppose you would have any objection to my making a little reconnaissance, to which blair replies, none whatsoever. there's a little bit of george patton in joe mauer. he sees this as a precursor. when he does for his little reconnaissance is he takes his two available brigades and decides to attack the confederate lines in

bentonville. it just so happens that johnston's headquarters is right there. it takes mauer about an hour to get across the swamp, reach the confederate line. the only confederates he is facing -- poor excuse of a skirmish line. general johnston directs hardy to put together a counterattacking force to stop progress. it will take time for them to collect strength. and just before hardy can launches counterattack he punches a hole in the confederate line. their 16th shooter henrys, are able to get all the way to bentonville. they come within a few yards of

cutting off johnston's only line of retreat. in the process, they send general johnston fleeing to the rear. but then hardy strikes. he succeeds in pushing back more. yes gotten cold feet, because he has decided to deploy closer to the main union line. he has left his skirmishers hanging in the breeze. among the attackers on the confederate side or general hardy's only son, 16-year-old willie hardy. and young willie is mortally wounded when he's charging. johnston succeeds in repulsing mauer's attckack. mauer is getting ready to launch another strike. but then the order comes from general sherman to stand fast. mauer is to hold his ground. johnston's army has survived to fight another day. however, unbeknownst to sherman

and johnston, they fought their last battle. -- battle at bentonville. now johnston falls back to smithfield, having failed to defeat even slocum's wing. general sherman is more than happy to let johnston escaped his grasp so we can continue on to goldsboro. sherman's army reaches goldsboro on the 23rd. a few days later, sherman makes a trip to city point, virginia to meet with general grant. sherman does not say this in his memoirs. it does not turn out too well for him. he has two items on his agenda when he goes up to city point. it's not about peace terms. item number one, he wants grants to postpone his offensive so that sherman will have time to march his army into virginia to join in the grand assault against lee. grant was no part of that. yes decided he wants the army of

the potomac and the army of the james to do this on their own. the second item on sherman's agenda, persuade phil sheridan to lead his cavalry into north carolina to assist in running down and bagging johnston. sheridan wants no part of that. he wants to be in on the effort to finish lee's army. he's going nowhere. so now sherman doesn't really have a whole lot left. but it turns out that president lincoln is that city point. sherman wasn't aware of that. on the 27th and 28 grant and sherman and admiral porter have sort of an informal conversation with lincoln. it soon becomes apparent to sherman the lincoln wants to offer a lenient piece to the confederates, be conciliatory. with malice towards none charity for all.

this deeply impresses sherman. is going to carry back those thoughts with him to north carolina. in his memoirs, sherman has this to say about lincoln. of all the men i've ever met, he possessed more of the elements of greatness combined with goodness than any other. now, sherman is going to march northward from goldsboro toward richmond, but that changes on april the sixth because he received word that grant has broken through with petersburg and richmond. the confederates are fleeing towards the west. how sherman directs his army toward raleigh. joe johnston is that smithfield. while the federals are celebrating in their camps it's very quiet at the camps in smithfield. on april the 10th, true to his timetable, sherman begins what he believes will be his final

offensive. he's right. he moves out on the 10th, heading towards raleigh. joe johnston falling back a day's march. it is on the 12th of april that sherman receives word from grant of lee's surrender. the men are jubilant. they're marching with light hearts. johnston has already received the news, an unofficial report that he has received from president jefferson davis, whose government has fled to danville, virginia. likewise, reporting the surrender of lees's army. now both commanders know the game is up. it's on the afternoon of the 12th that the governor of north carolina since a deputy nation down to sherman's headquarters. it is captured. it turns out the troops who captured the train bearing david

l. swain and david a. graham are commanded by swain's future father-in-law. sherman tells [indiscernible] that he's not authorized to negotiate with civilian authorities, but he promises fans -- vance that if he chooses to remain in raleigh, he will let him remain as governor. sherman is already going out on a limb, promising more than he probably should. in any event, swain decides to fall back with johnston's army. yes received reports that both swain and graham's train was captured by the federals and they are prisoners. incorrect information, but it's probably just as well. sherman reaches raleigh on april the 13th. after reviewing his troops, he

establishes his headquarters at the governor's palace. president davis has continued to fall back. he stops at greensboro where he summons general johnson to meet him. johnston goes to greenberg assuming that davis is soliciting his opinion. asking for a briefing on the military situation. one johnston gets to greensboro, he finds out davis actually has a plan to raise a new army by collecting all the men who deserted or evaded inscription. johnston realizes that plan. then davis announces that secretary of war records will arrive that evening with word on the fate of lee's army. breckenridge arrives. he reports yes, lee's army has

indeed surrendered. then johnston said he needs an opportunity to tell the president the truth. breckenridge gives and that opportunity the following day on the 13th. johnston tells them there he bluntly that the confederate soldiers in his army have only the close on their backs, the weapons in their hands and that it would be the greatest of crimes to continue the war when his small army was outnumbered 10 to 1. davis refuses to believe the game is up. he decides to pull you in a bow regard -- the general into his cabinet.

everyone size with johnston. there is nothing left for davis to do now. he dictates a letter to general sherman for the needful arrangements to terminate the existing war. davis does not have his heart in negotiations. he decides to continue falling back and will retreat as far as charlotte. it is up to general johnston to open negotiations with general sherman. calvary commanders exchange messages and it is agreed they will meet roughly midway between patrick's headquarters and hamptons headquarters. it is there on the morning of april 17, 1865 that sherman add johnston -- and johnston meet for the first time. they go inside the house of

james and nancy bennett and they begin their negotiations. sherman has a fateful telegram when he enters that house. just before he left, he received word that president lincoln had been assassinated on april 14. the first person that sherman revealed this to is general johnston. johnston reads the telegram and beads of sweat formed on his forehead. he pronounced it the greatest possible calamity to the south. sherman thinks he has got johnston over a barrel. he then proposes that johnston surrender according to the appomattox terms. but, johnston quickly recovers and he says, the appomattox terms are entirely fair to an

army that is surrounded. however, my army is concentrated around greensboro while yours is 75 miles to the east. i can pick up and leave whenever i want. then it johnston says, let's not negotiate or the surrender of just my army but all the confederate armies still on the field and make one job of it. that appeals to sherman's flair for the dramatic. he forgets about a strictly military surrender and now it will be a surrender based on political terms. he will be getting a do hot water at this point but -- into hot water at this point. he ignores it. the two men discussed terms and they come to one sticking point and that is offering amnesty to davis and his cabinet. sherman want.

it -- won't hear of it. they are eager to get back to their headquarters. sherman wants to try to control his men who he is sure who will be burning with anger over lincoln's assassination. while johnston is eager to get back where hampton has made his headquarters, he immediately summons secretary of war breckenridge and john h reagan because he will need davis 'authorization. once the men arrived at the dixon house around midnight on april 18 they begin to discuss terms. then postmaster general reagan decides to write out the terms and as he is