We are fearful, anxious, relieved, bitterly disappointed, homesick, cheerful beyond words, and heartily devastated and all of this at the same time. My hand is trembling as I write this but my heart is full. It has happened. This army is no more.
I will attempt to write this of this sorrowful, joyful day with as much detail as I can muster. I will never come this way again and I fancy that none of us, even the Yankees will come this way again, either.
As I write this, there are bluecoats and greatcoats mixing with each other, shaking hands, smiling, trading trinkets among themselves. As I set under this tree, off to my left, I see a Confederate smashing his musket. To my right, sit four Confederates and five Yankees with a gum blanket spread before them, playing cards. Directly in from of me, at a distance of no more than three paces, one of our officers is crying without any shame being thought of it. I cried earlier and will probably do so again.
Whether his tears were of joy or of sorrow, I could not tell. Certainly, they were borne of overwhelming emotion.
Today, this morning, Gordon's corps was in the lead and we in Longstreet's corps were in the rear. Some of our cavalry, under General Gary, were some ways behind us. We were hoping to break through these hills and make our way to Lynchburg. It was expected that there would be rations to fill us and trains to speed us far enough away that the Yankees could not catch up. We expected that there would be rations at Appomattox Station.
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| General Robert E. Lee |
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| Lieutenant General James Longstreet, Lee's senior corps commander. |
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| Major General John B. Gordon, one of Lee's two corps commanders. |
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| Brigadier General Martin W. Gary. He commanded a brigade of cavalry from Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia. |
As we were marching towards the town, we could hear all manner of firing. We speculated that the Yankees had gotten ahead of us and were giving Gordon merry ned. We picked up the pace and moved forward, towards the sounds of the guns. If we arrived in time to support Gordon, we could break through and be on our way.
It was that artilleryman, General Alexander, who took immediate command of our division plus those of generals Mahone and Field. We formed up in line of battle on a ridge somewhat north and east of the court house. From this position, we could see down to the fighting on the other side of town. We saw Gordon's corps retire back through the Court House. We had a good deal of artillery with us in the line and the artillerymen were anxious to pull their lanyards.
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| Major General William Mahone, division commander under Longstreet. |
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| Major General Charles W. Field, division commander under Longstreet. One of Field's brigades was the Texas Brigade, perhaps the most famous brigade in Lee's army. |
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| Edward Porter Alexander, Longstreet's artillery commander. |
If we turned around and looked the other way, we could see Yankee infantry coming up behind us with support from their artillery. They opened upon us and we upon them. Our firing did not last long at all before we heard the command to cease fire.
At first, we did not understand. If we were not to defend our position, we would have to fall back upon Gordon's rear. We had an inkling of what was to come when we started seeing white flags. Then, we were order to shoulder our muskets and proceed to an open field. As we retired from our position, the Yankees could have fired upon us but they did not and we did not fire upon them.
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| Truce party under white flag. |
Rapidly, the word passed through the ranks that perhaps we were surrendered. For what other reason would there be commands to cease fire and the white flags? We marched to the field and stacked arms. It was not long before the truth was realized. We heard very loud cheering from the Yankees. Our Lee had surrendered. We had gone up.
It was like the biggest dam in the world had broke, releasing all at once, all of the forces pressing against it. Unlike the cheering from the Yankees which was en masse, our people cheered rather more quietly and not in one grand mass. There was too much sad there to allow for a great deal of glad.
Someone broke out a mouth organ and played a lively tune for all he was worth. Others fell prone upon the ground and resisted all efforts to raise them. A good many fell to their knees and prayed with Chaplain Dickson or by themselves. Many men were dancing sans ladies. Someone managed to retain his fiddle all during the retreat and he played as if there was no tomorrow.
We remaining Eights, Hancock, Wilson Crenshaw,Terry and myself joined hands in a circle and offered thanks for being alive. If we shook hands with any more vigor, our arms would come out of their sockets. Lieutenant Williamson and Captain Bell assembled the entire company which numbered thirty or so and both spoke the appropriate sentiments to us.
Now that no one was trying to shoot, shell or bayonet us, we thought about filling our bellies. We knew that our side had nothing and their side had it all so we resolved to go and ask for sustinence from our former enemies . This was strange for us as we were accustomed to getting what we wanted from them by taking it.
The four of us Eights, plus Porter and Marshall left our muskets and traps in the field and walked into town which was not far away. We were not halted by guards or asked for any passes. Some of their officers threw poor glances our way but did nothing. We stopped at the first decent dwelling that we saw. The crowd there were dressed in two colors, blue and grey.
We thought that we would have better luck by approaching our fellow enlisted types than the officers. We found a first sergeant who looked friendly and asked him for something to eat. He called to a corporal and some privates and told them to go through the company and secure contributions. They returned with what to us was a bounty: a hundred crackers, a sack of corn meal, plenty of salt and coffee, tobacco and a good amount of salt pork. Crenshaw remarked that much of this was from our own Commissariat according to the markings. As it turned out, our own supply trains were captured at Appomattox Station and this was part of what was captured there.
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| Sharing of rations. |
As we were exchanging plesantries, buttons, hats and caps, one of the Yanks remarked that their Grant and our Lee were inside the house having a little sit-down talk. We knew what that meant. We looked at the house and saw General Wilcox on the front porch along with some other officers. We stood around looking at the sights, taking them all in.
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| Major General Cadmus Wilcox, one of three division commanders under A.P. Hill. After Hill's death at Petersburg, James Longstreet commanded both his own corps and that of Hill. Wilcox commanded a four-brigade division that included Samuel McGowan's brigade in which David Tooms served. |
Then we saw our Lee. He came out of the house with his staff officers. He looked every inch a gentleman and a soldier. An aide passed him the rains of his horse and very slowly, he started to ride away. The Yanks sent up a hearty cheer but Grant, much to his credit, stopped the cheering.
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| Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant. |
As General Lee passed by us, his boys, hats and caps were removed. Soldiers pressed forward to clasp his hand or merely to touch him or pat his horse. It was the closest I had seen him during the war. Our words to him were complimentary, respectful and in of moderate volume. He paused and his words to us were spoken through a great emotion.
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| General Lee, leaving McLean House. |
After Lee left, we followed him as we always have followed him so many times. Once back to the company, we shared our rations with the rest of our pards. We spent the rest of the night debating which Yankee prison would be best for us. At least they have to feed us.
There have been guards posted.
I Send You These Few Lines.
It has finally happened. The best army that the Southern Confederacy could put into the field has been bested and surrendered. The home where the surrender took place is of interest. The home was owned by Wilmer McLean, formerly of Manassas, Virginia. After the Battle of First Manassas, McLean left for safer grounds, moving to Appomattox Court House only to have his home used for the surrender. He later said that," The war started in my front yard and ended in my front porch."
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| Wilmer McLean. |
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| The McLean House in Appomattox Court House. |
Lee might not have been en route to Lynchburg in order to form a junction with Joe Johnston's Army of Tennessee.According to some historians, it was more likely that Lee was intent, upon leaving Appomattox, that he will go through Campbell Court House and Pittsylvania County and then Danville before crossing the North Carolina line.
The rations given to Tooms and his pards came from Appomattox Station which was captured the day before the surrender. Appomattox Station and Appomattox Court House are two separate places. They are a very few miles from each other. The station sits on the South Side Railroad.
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| Appomattox Station. |
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| President Davis and his party are still in Danville, Virginia. |
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