Part 14

One month later, however, Early made a surprise crossing of a branch of the Shenandoah River and drove the forces of Sheridan northward from Cedar Creek in Frederick County. As Sheridan and his forces were fleeing, Union reenforcements arrived under the leadership of General Horatio Wright. The combined forces of Sheridan and Wright attacked the troops of Early and drove them from the area in great chaos. This victory was the shortest victory in the War between the States.

During the war, several attempts had been made by the Union forces in the Shenandoah Valley to capture and destroy the Salt Works at Saltville, located in southwestern Virginia. In 1864, the Confederate General John H. Morgan with a small cavalry force successfully repulsed a Union force under General William Averell. On December 18, 1864, however, the salt mines and the Salt Works were destroyed by a small detachment of Union forces who were ordered to Saltville while the Confederates were engaged in severe fighting with the major Union troops at nearby Marion. The destruction of the Salt Works was significant because this location had furnished the principal source of salt supply for the Confederacy.

In spite of the many Unionist casualties at the Crater in 1864, Grant continued to keep his army near Petersburg. Finally, both sides made their camp there for the winter. General William Mahone was the Confederate general in charge of the Petersburg defense at this time. While the winter passed, the Union forces kept receiving enforcements while the Confederate forces had no reenforcements. As the Union forces were increased over a large area, the Confederates were forced to station their meager forces farther apart. There was a scarcity of food and clothing for the Confederates; the cold climate was most uncomfortable and demoralizing for them. On April 2, General Grant succeeded in breaking through the Confederate lines. Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, was informed while attending services at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Richmond that Petersburg could be held no longer by the Confederate forces. The Virginians knew that, if and when Petersburg fell, Richmond would fall next because Petersburg was the key to Richmond. The next day, April 3, Richmond fell. As General Richard S. Ewell and his Confederate troops evacuated the city, they burned bridges and large tobacco and cotton warehouses to prevent the Union forces from receiving beneficial goods. However, a surprising wind spread the flames rapidly and resulted in approximately thirty million dollars worth of damage to the City of Richmond.

Three days later, the final battle of the Army of Northern Virginia occurred at Sailor's Creek near Farmville. The rearguard of Lee's Army on the way to Lynchburg was completely surrounded and attacked by Unionists. The Confederates lacked equipment, especially cannon, and were quickly overpowered by artillery fire. In the mass surrender which resulted, two generals were captured: R. S. Ewell and Custis Lee, son of General Robert E. Lee.

While the rearguard of Lee's army was retreating toward Lynchburg, the rest of his army was retreating from Petersburg. On April 8, 1865, two Confederate corps consisting of starved, poorly equipped soldiers under General John B. Gordon and General James Longstreet arrived at a village called Appomattox Court House. When General Lee arrived, he noticed that his men were actually surrounded and far outnumbered by General Grant's Army of the Potomac. He had been corresponding with Grant concerning a surrender ever since the fall of Petersburg. Lee, realizing the futility of the comparatively small group of poorly equipped troops which he now commanded against Grant's large army, asked for an official meeting at Appomattox Court House. The meeting took place at noon on April 9, 1865, on Palm Sunday in the parlor of Wilmer McLean's House. General Lee and Colonel Charles Marshall, one of Lee's staff members and a most distinguished officer, represented the Army of Northern Virginia at the meeting while General Grant and fourteen federal officers including General George A. Custer and Major General Philip H. Sheridan constituted the remaining membership of the famous meeting.

The contrasting appearance of the two leaders was very noticeable: Grant, the victor, appeared straight from the battlefield in a dusty, fatigue uniform of a private without side arms and Lee, the vanquished, appeared in a new dress uniform of a Confederate general--the only one he owned after his personal effects had been burned in a wagon raid during an earlier retreat. Although the two leaders had had only casual meetings in their earlier years, their previous acquaintance seemed to lighten the tenseness of the situation. After an exchange of formal greetings and general conversation, the talks gradually shifted to a discussion of peace terms of surrender.

The terms have been described as most fair and generous and they included the following: parole was given to the Confederate officers and soldiers with the understanding that they were not to take up arms against the United States during the period of exchange, military weapons were to be relinquished to Union military officers with the exception of the side-arms belonging to the Confederate officers and baggage and privately-owned animals were to be kept for the spring plowing. Thus, after four years of brave fighting, General Robert E. Lee, in the name of the Army of Northern Virginia, graciously accepted with dignity the surrender terms of General Ulysses S. Grant and stated that the terms "will do much toward the conciliation of our people." General Grant then proceeded to furnish food for the starving Confederate forces. The formal surrender took place the next day. When the Union forces began to cheer during the surrendering of Confederate arms, Grant immediately ordered the cheers to cease with the remark: "The war is over; the rebels are our countrymen again." Thus, Virginia, where the first blood of the War between the States was shed, was also the scene where the final negotiations for the conclusion of the war were made.

From April 3 to April 10, 1865, Danville was the capital of the Confederacy. As the evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond took place, Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, and his cabinet moved to Danville. The present Danville Public Library occupies the building known as the Confederate Memorial Mansion where Jefferson Davis held his last cabinet meeting, making Danville the Confederate capital for a few days. At the time of the meeting, this beautiful building was the home of Major W. T. Sutherlin. Governor William Smith of Virginia also evacuated from Richmond to Lynchburg where the state archives had been sent earlier.

After the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, Jefferson Davis and his cabinet fled to Greensboro, North Carolina, and eventually, to Washington, Georgia, where they finally dispersed. Davis was later confined for two years at Fort Monroe, Old Point Comfort, Virginia, from May 10, 1865 to May 15, 1867. He was finally released on bail furnished surprisingly by Horace Greeley and other individuals who had strongly opposed Davis and his Confederate ideas a few years previously.

All the remaining Confederate troops had surrendered by the first week of June, and the War between the States had ended. Since a majority of the battles had been fought in Virginia, tremendous damage had been inflicted upon Virginia during the war. The state had been a constant battleground. Virginia troops, however, had distinguished themselves in their excellent fighting tactics, and the most brilliant military leaders of the Confederacy were Virginia-born.

Not only from a military viewpoint had the Confederacy welcomed the addition of Virginia within its membership, but also from an economic viewpoint. War munitions had been manufactured in huge quantities for the Confederate forces by the Tredegar Iron Works of Richmond. Richmond was also the home of the country's largest flour mills at that time. Because of its plentiful farm products,

## particularly wheat and corn, the Shenandoah Valley was called the

"Granary of the Confederacy."

Even in defeat, the courageous spirit of the Virginians continued. The rôle of women in Virginia as well as in the entire South cannot be overemphasized. They had suffered physically, emotionally and economically during the war. They made military uniforms by hand, stood by helplessly as their homes and, often, life fortunes were burned to the ground, experienced certain types of deprivation such as a lack of proper food (particularly sugar, salt and meat), clothing, shelter and medicinal needs and performed numerous physical household tasks previously done by the Negro slaves although many of these women were unaccustomed to such hard labor.

Individual examples of bravery and courage, far too numerous to mention, were common throughout the entire war. A most unusual contribution of the women was their continuous experimentation in the discovery of food substitutes: the use of blackberry and sassafras leaves for tea; parched wheat, rye and corn for coffee beans; sea water for salt; and corncob ashes for cooking soda. A lack of processed candles and kerosene oil left only grease and wax to be utilized for making handmade candles. Wood was frequently substituted for leather and seeds for buttons. Formal education, of necessity, was almost non-existent; with a few exceptions, like the Virginia Military Institute, education became solely one of family training.

An incident of special interest was the activity of Sally Tompkins of Gloucester who was eventually commissioned by President Jefferson Davis as a Captain in the Confederate Army. She had charge of Robertson Hospital located in Richmond after she had previously used her own money and efforts to get this hospital established because of the urgent need for a hospital in the Richmond area. She influenced Judge Robertson to lend his house as a hospital headquarters. Later, after the government of the Confederacy assumed control of all the hospitals in the Confederacy, President Davis appointed an army officer as a director for each one. Recognizing the conscientious efforts of Sally Tompkins in establishing this hospital at Richmond, President Davis commissioned her as Captain, the only woman to be commissioned by the Confederate government.

At the end of the war, Virginia was in a devastated condition: private property as well as public property had in many cases been completely destroyed by fire or by ammunition. Practically all the livestock had been carried away. Family members had been decreased in number, and disease and starvation conditions were common throughout the state. Politically, economically, geographically, historically and socially, the South had been affected: Virginia, in the heart of the most severe battleground area, seemed to base its existence for the future upon the "survival of the fittest" theory.

_The Reconstruction Period and Its Aftermath_

Returning Virginia soldiers found some houses completely destroyed and large sections of land completely laid to waste. With little, if any, livestock left and with farm tools missing, the serious problem of reconstruction and rehabilitation can be easily understood. Railroad tracks and bridges had been demolished; transportation facilities in some areas were almost non-existent. Even fences, so important to livestock raising, had been entirely demolished in most instances. So hopeless did a recovery appear to many Virginians that a few men proposed migration to Mexico rather than to start anew with such poor living conditions.

General Robert E. Lee still showed his leadership qualities when he beseeched several Virginians, including Matthew Fontaine Maury, the brilliant marine cartographer, not to abandon Virginia when the state needed all her sons so badly. Maury was so impressed by the plea of Robert E. Lee that he rejected offers of employment from foreign countries which were familiar with his broad, oceanographic knowledge. Instead, he accepted the chairmanship of the Meteorology Department of the Virginia Military Institute. Robert E. Lee, himself, had been offered various employment opportunities but the honor which he deemed the highest of all was the position offered to him as President of Washington College at Lexington. Lee's financial gain from this position was to be a sum of $1500 per year plus a house and a garden. He humbly accepted the position and was allowed to keep his faithful horse, "Traveler," with him in a stable built adjacent to the President's house. From September 1865 until October 1870, Robert E. Lee served as President of Washington College.

Lee had two objectives which he hoped personally to achieve: (1) the lessening of the hatred which then existed between the North and the South so that all Americans might work together in unity for peace and progress, and (2) the education of youth in such a manner as to make them capable of living as successful citizens of the United States. With his deep idealism, Lee was also a practical man. When he recognized the interest of many young men in writing, editing and publishing newspapers, he included a course in journalism at Washington College. This was the first college journalism class offered in the United States. He was also responsible for the origin of the honor system whereby a student is on his personal honor to refrain from cheating and is also honor-bound to report any individual seen violating such code; this system is now used in numerous institutions of learning. Many of the current attributes of this college are traceable to the administration of Robert E. Lee. In 1871, the name of the college was changed to Washington and Lee University in honor of two Virginians who made numerous contributions to American culture.

After the war had ended, a most unusual situation existed in Virginia. The "Restored Government" under Governor Francis Harrison Pierpont claimed to be the official government of Virginia although he and his cohorts were responsible for dividing the State of Virginia and actually had set up an illegal Unionist Virginia government at Wheeling. President Lincoln, however, had at one time stated that "The government that took Virginia out of the Union is the government that should bring her back." He suggested that the present Governor of Virginia at that time, William Smith, should be present to ratify such procedure. However, U. S. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton persuaded Lincoln to withdraw this offer. Lincoln's untimely death on April 14, 1865, when he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at the Ford Theater in Washington, was a real blow to the South in general because he was much more conciliatory toward the South than the majority members of the Congress who were radical about their military victory over the South. It is interesting to note that, fifteen days later, John Wilkes Booth was shot to death in a burning barn on the Garrett Farm near Port Royal, Virginia. On May 9, 1865, President Andrew Johnson officially recognized the "Restored Government" of Virginia, which had relocated in Alexandria, and also recognized Pierpont as the Provisional Governor.

On June 15, 1865, a Freedman's Bureau headed by General Orlando Brown was established in Virginia. The Bureau was supported by the United States Government and had charge of the interests, aid, protection and guidance of the Negroes. This bureau distributed food rations and clothing to the Negroes and provided educational opportunities for them. Originally founded to help newly freed Negroes, the Freedmen's Bureau soon became overshadowed with political activities and severe radicalism with strong racial prejudices resulted.

From June 19 to June 23, 1865, Governor Pierpont had changed his headquarters from Alexandria to Richmond and his "General Assembly" of twelve representatives held meetings there. They endorsed Lincoln's plan of reconstruction and were rejoicing at the comparatively easy way in which Virginia was going to be restored to the Union. In the meantime, the radical Congress in Washington believed that the Confederate States had left the Union voluntarily and should not be allowed to return until they had fulfilled specific conditions. When the State of Virginia sent her officially-elected representatives to Congress, they were refused admission. Nevertheless, Congress did allow the Virginia General Assembly to meet in regular session, and one of the measures passed by this group consisted of a formal appeal to West Virginia to reunite with the original State of Virginia.

On March 2, 1867, Congress under the Reconstruction Act of 1867, divided the ex-Confederate states (with the exception of Tennessee which had ratified the Fourteenth Amendment providing citizenship for the Negroes) into five military districts, each of which was under the command of a Major-General of the United States Army. Later, on March 23, the Commonwealth of Virginia became Military District No. 1, and General John M. Schofield became the first military Governor of District No. 1 in 1867. Since Pierpont had been reelected Governor of Virginia in 1864 for a four-year term, he was accepted as the civilian Governor by the radical Congress, but subject to the authority of the military commander.

On December 3, 1867, a convention was held in Richmond for the purpose of writing a state constitution which would be accepted by the Federal Congress. A large majority of the representatives attending were radicals. Membership included twenty-five Negroes, individuals of foreign birth who had drifted into the State of Virginia after the War between the States, many northerners who had come South to enter politics and a few eligible white men who had changed to Republicanism. White men of the South who had held high public office before the War between the States and those who had helped or participated in the Confederacy in any way were barred from voting or taking part in the Constitutional Convention. Since the chairman or president of this convention was Federal Judge John C. Underwood, the convention is sometimes referred to as the Underwood Convention. The measures passed by these members were so radical that even General Schofield himself appeared personally before the convention and pleaded with the members to repeal a clause, drafted by the convention delegates, which disfranchised approximately 95% of the male white population of Virginia and disqualified them from holding office and from serving on juries. His plea, however, was ignored.

At this time, a Committee of Nine Virginians was formed at the suggestion of Alexander H. Stuart. The chief objectives of this committee were to observe political developments in Virginia and to determine the appropriate time to report to Washington on the state of events in order to obtain a more favorable method for Virginia to re-enter the Union. They bluntly stated that the Virginians were definitely opposed to full Negro suffrage and declared that many states other than the southern states, such as Kansas, Ohio, Minnesota, Michigan and Connecticut, had refused to enfranchise the Negro.

General Schofield prevented the planned election of the Underwood Convention from taking place in June by refusing to appropriate money for election expenses. Such postponement gave the Committee of Nine an opportunity to obtain public opinion backing before the Senate voted for the Underwood Constitution. The House of Representatives had already voted in favor of it immediately before the Christmas recess occurred. A representative of the Committee of Nine stated before Congress that the Committee advocated the acceptance of full Negro suffrage as inevitable in order that constitutional representative government might be restored at once. Chairman Stuart had already successfully achieved the support of the Boston "Advertiser," the Chicago "Tribune," the New York "Times" and the New York "Tribune." President Grant, who had succeeded President Johnson, suggested that, when the election took place in Virginia, the Underwood Constitution be voted upon first and then the test oath. As a result of the test oath, only individuals who had never taken arms against the Union and had never given aid or comfort to the Confederacy would be eligible to vote or to hold office. Likewise, it was suggested that the extension of the white disfranchisement be voted separately. When the election took place on July 6, 1869, the Underwood Constitution was adopted, but the two separate items mentioned above were defeated.

Gilbert C. Walker, a conservative Republican from New York and Pennsylvania, was appointed on September 21, 1869 as Governor of Virginia by General Canby, a successor of General Schofield. On October 8, 1869 the newly-elected General Assembly ratified the Fourteenth Amendment--"All persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside ..." and the Fifteenth Amendment--"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." Congress then approved the new state constitution, and Virginia was officially re-admitted into the Union on January 26, 1870.

One of the biggest problems facing Governor Walker was the extremely high debt of approximately forty-five million dollars which faced the state. The Underwood Constitution had provided for numerous additional office positions in an attempt to force the New England Township plan upon the Virginia County plan and to create positions for the many "Carpetbaggers" (northern politicians who came south to gain control of the local governments) and "Scalawags" (southern politicians who helped the "Carpetbaggers" get control). This increased the cost of state government. To remedy this situation, the General Assembly decreased its total membership approximately one-fourth to help reduce expenses.

Prior to the war, Virginia had embarked upon an extensive program of internal improvements which under normal circumstances would have paid for itself eventually and which during the war had accumulated much unpaid interest on the bonded debt. This financial burden would seem secondary to the tremendous poverty of the Virginians themselves at the end of the war. However, the General Assembly which had met prior to the adoption of the Underwood Constitution pledged the payment of all the ante-bellum debt plus the interest, even though Virginia had lost one-third of its taxable assets because of the separation of West Virginia. Some of the members still hoped and actually believed that West Virginia might return to the fold of Virginia after the war had ended. At the Governor's suggestion, in order to obtain revenue, the state sold its railroad holdings at a great reduction. Another method was the exchange of certain bonds for new ones at six per cent interest for two-thirds of the amount of the old bonds. For the additional third, certificates were issued endorsed against future settlement with West Virginia. Although these attempts were made to obtain necessary revenue, the amount received was very insufficient, and the state actually became more indebted because of them.