HARD-BOILED HISTORY

A scene from the Battle of Petersburg during the Civil War.

(via)

“GRANT IN THE WILDERNESS MAY 5, 1964” by Henry Alexander Ogden (1856-1936).

(New York Public Library)

A scene from the bloody Battle of the Wilderness. May 5-7, 1864. 

(via)

MAJOR-GENERAL WADSWORTH FIGHTING IN THE WILDERNESS — An Alfred Waud illustration for Harper’s Weekly depicts the Battle of the Wilderness, 5 May 1864.

(via)

GENERAL GRANT AT THE WILDERNESS — On to Richmond by Mort Kunstler: “This painting depicts Lt. General Ulysses S. Grant on the field during the Battle of the Wilderness, Virginia, May 5-7, 1864. To Grant’s right is depicted Major General George Gordon Meade, commander of the Army of the Potomac. Meade’s forces had crossed the Rappahannock River on May 4, but were forced to stop in the area known as the Wilderness to wait for the supply train to catch up. Confederate General Robert E. Lee resolved to attack the Federal forces while they were in the difficult Wilderness terrain. Fighting was so intense that the trees and underbrush in many places caught fire, the glow of which can be seen in the background. Grant’s horse was named Cincinnati; Meade’s was Baldy (sometimes called Old Baldy).The red, swallow tailed flag is the Army of the Potomac Headquarters flag.” (U.S. Army War College/Wikimedia Commons)

Soldiers read letters and play cards after a drill. Petersburg, Virginia, 1864.

(National Archives)

HE BOXED HIS WAY TO FREEDOM — A portrait of Tom Molineaux, by Robert Dighton, hand-coloured etching, published January 1812.

Born in 1774 in Virginia, America, Tom Molineaux won his freedom in a boxing match. In 1803 he arrived in England knowing no-one. He met another African American boxer, Bill Richmond, who recognising his talent organised a match for him against his old adversary Tom Cribb. Cribb was a heavyweight champion but Molineaux battled with him for thirty-nine rounds while the crowd shouted racist taunts. Conditions were so bad that the men agreed to a rematch that was held in front of 15,000 people in 1811. However, Molineaux never fully recovered from a low blow to his body received during this fight. He continued to box until 1815, but when he died in Ireland, in 1818, he was penniless.

(National Portrait Gallery)

George “Last Stand” Custer on horse, Falmouth, Virginia, April 1863. Cropped photo by Timothy H. O’Sullivan (1840-1882).

(Library of Congress)

Appomattox Court House, Virginia, 1865. Illustration by E.B. Webber. Lithography by J.H. Mumford Bufford & Sons.

(New York Public Library)

“HIS ARMY BROKE UP AND FOLLOWED HIM, WEEPING AND SOBBING.” — An illustration by Howard Pyle (1853-1911) dramatizes the aftermath of Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, on April 9, 1865.

(New York Public Library)

SURRENDER OF GENERAL LEE — The Confederacy capitulated to the Union on April 9. 1865 at Appommattox Court House, Virginia. Illustration by Alfred Waud (1828-1891)

(New York Public Library)

VICTORY CHAIR — Ulysses S. Grant sat in this chair on April 9, 1865. On the subject of its comfort, history is silent.

(New York Public Library)

THE TERMS OF SURRENDER AT APPOMATTOX

On April 9, 1865, the following letters were exchanged by Generals Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee to give the terms under which the General Lee surrendered his army, ending the American Civil War.

Grant’s letter to Lee:

Appomattox Court-House, Virginia April 9, 1865.

GENERAL: In accordance with the substance of my letter to you of the 8th instant, I propose to receive the surrender of the army of Northern Virginia on the following terms, to wit: Rolls of all the officers and men to be made in duplicate, one copy to be given to an officer to be designated by me, the other to be retained by such officer or officers as you may designate. The officers to give their individual paroles not to take up arms against the government of the United States until properly exchanged; and each company or regimental commander to sign a like parole for the men of their commands. The arms, artillery, and public property to be parked and stacked, and turned over to the officers appointed by me to receive them. This will not embrace the side-arms of the officers nor their private horses or baggage. This done, each officer and man will be allowed to return to his home, not to be disturbed by United States authority so long as they observe their paroles and the laws in force where they may reside.

U. S. Grant, Lieutenant-General.

General R. E. Lee.

Lee’s reply to Grant:

Head-Quarters, Army of Northern Virginia,

April 9, 1865.

GENERAL: I received your letter of this date containing the terms of the 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 instant, they are accepted. I will proceed to designate the proper officers to carry the stipulations into effect.

R. E. Lee, General.

Lieutenant-General U. S. Grant.

(Text from Bartleby. Image from the New York Public Library)