Grant’s headquarters. Confederate secretary of state Judah P. Benjamin disguises himself as a clergyman and escapes to the West Indies following the fall of Richmond April 3. Now 54, he sails for England, will be admitted to the bar at London next year, and in 1869 will become Queen’s Counsel. The War of the Rebellion ends April 9 with General Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House in Virginia. “Let us have peace,” says General Grant. The 4-year Civil War has cost the country 620,000 lives: the Union has lost 360,222 men (110,000 of them in battle), the Confederacy 258,000 (94,000 in battle), with 471,427 wounded on both sides. Men with missing arms and legs are everywhere to be seen, the nation is full of widows and orphans, and marriageable young women have trouble finding husbands.
Confederate secretary of war John C. Breckenridge flees south with other high-ranking officials, escapes to Cuba, and makes his way to England, where he will remain until 1868, when an amnesty proclamation will permit him to return to Lexington, Kentucky.
“Duty is the most sublime word in our language. Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more. You should never wish to do less.” – Robert E. Lee
The end of the Civil War makes it possible for President Lincoln to ship arms and clothing across the border to Mexico, where supporters of exiled President Juárez put them to good use against French forces of the emperor Maximilian (see 1864; 1866).
Assassin John Wilke Booth’s alleged conspirators go on trial beginning May 12; all are found guilty, including Mrs. Surratt, and hanged July 7.
Former Confederate president Jefferson Davis is captured at dawn May 10 near Irwinville, Georgia, and placed in leg-irons at Fort Monroe, Virginia, where he is confined in a damp casemate. News of his treatment produces a wave of outrage in the North, and he is transferred to more comfortable quarters, but he will be held under guard until May 1867.
Confederate guerilla leader William C. Quantrill dies in a Louisville, Kentucky, prison June 6 at age 27; The “carpetbaggers” who move into the South are so called with contempt by Southerners, who say that the newcomers can put all they own in the common hand luggage called carpetbags. Some become state legislators and U.S. con-
“Without slavery, the rebellion could never have existed. Without slavery, it could not continue.” – Abraham Lincoln, December 1, 1862, Message to Congresss For advertising information call: (858) 537.2280
March15, 1, 2011 March 2011 THE THE MILITARY MILITARY PRESS PRESS Page Page 23 23