Wednesday, 26 April 1865
President Jefferson Davis holds a cabinet meeting at Charlotte, North Carolina, and he and his cabinet pledge to move west across Mississippi to continue the fight. The entourage sets out headed to the Mississippi River to carry on the struggle for Southern Independence. Secretary of the Treasury, George Alfred Trenholm, resigns due to poor health and will be replaced by Postmaster General John Henninger Reagan. Attorney General George Davis disagrees with Davis’ decision and resigns.
Joseph E. Johnston surrenders the Army of Tennessee to William T. Sherman near Durham Station, North Carolina. The surrender terms were the same that Hiram U. Grant had given to Robert E. Lee on 9 April. This marked the surrender of the Confederacy’s second largest army; Johnston also surrendered all forces in his department covering the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida, or a total of about 89,000 men. This ends the war east of the Alleghenies.
Final Terms of Surrender, April 26, 1865
Terms of a Military Convention, entered into this 26th day of April, 1865, at Bennitt's House, near Durham Station, North Carolina, between General Joseph E. Johnston, commanding the Confederate Army, and Major-General W.T. Sherman, commanding the United States Army in North Carolina:
1. All acts of war on the part of the troops under General Johnston's command to cease from this date.
2. All arms and public property to be deposited at Greensboro, and delivered to an ordinance-officer of the United States Army.
3. Rolls of all the officers and men to be made in duplicate; one copy to be given to an officer to be designated by General Sherman. Each officer and man to give individual obligation in writing not to take up arms against the Government of the United States, until properly released from this obligation.
4. The side-arms of officers, and their private horses and baggage, to be retained by them.
5. This being done, all the officers and men will be permitted to return to their homes, not to be disturbed by the United States authorities, so long as they observe their obligation and the laws in force where they may reside.
W. T. Sherman, Major-General
Commanding United States Forces in North Carolina
J. E. Johnston, General
Commanding Confederate States Forces in North Carolina
Approved: U. S. Grant, Lieutenant-General
Lafayette Curry Baker, USA, is appointed Brigadier General. Baker had taken charge of the Union Intelligence Service from the Scottish-American detective, Allan Pinkerton
Federal soldiers scout from Little Rock to the Saline River, a tributary of the Ouachita River in the south central portion of Arkansas.
An engagement occurs near Fort Rice, in the Dakota Territory, with either Cheyenne or Platte Indians, as the Indians attack and kill some of the Yankees herding horses toward Fort Rice.
Union operations continue in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, including shots fired by a small band of partisan guerrillas at the Federals and the refusal of Colonel William P. Thompson, CSA, and his Jackson's Confederate Cavalry--the 19th Regiment, Virginia Cavalry--command of about 100 to accept terms of surrender. They disband into the hills around the Shenandoah Valley.
John Wilkes Booth and David E. Herold are captured at Richard H. Garrett's Farm, near Port Royal, and north of Bowling Green, Virginia, where Booth is mortally wounded.
Full report: Early this morning, Union cavalry track John Wilkes Booth and David Herold to the Garrett farm in Bowling Green, Virginia, 12 days after he assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. Federals surround the barn housing Booth and Herold; Herold quickly surrenders, but Booth refuses and is shot in the back. Booth dies a few hours later.
The twenty-six-year-old Booth was one of the most famous actors in the country when he shot Lincoln during a performance at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C., on the night of 14 April. Booth was a Maryland native and a strong supporter of the Confederacy. As the war entered its final stages, Booth hatched a conspiracy to kidnap the president. He enlisted the aid of several associates, but the opportunity never presented itself. After the surrender of Robert E. Lee’s Confederate army at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, on April 9, Booth changed the plan to a simultaneous assassination of Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson, and Secretary of State William Seward. Only Lincoln was actually killed, however. Seward was stabbed by Lewis Paine but survived, while the man assigned to kill Johnson did not carry out his assignment.
After shooting Lincoln, Booth jumped to the stage below Lincoln’s box seat. He landed hard, breaking his leg, before escaping to a waiting horse behind the theater. Many in the audience recognized Booth, so the army was soon hot on his trail. Booth and his accomplice, David Herold, made their way across the Anacostia River and headed toward southern Maryland. The pair stopped at Dr. Samuel Mudd’s home, and Mudd treated Booth’s leg. This earned Mudd a life sentence in prison when he was implicated as part of the conspiracy, but the sentence was later commuted. Booth found refuge for several days at the home of Thomas A. Jones, a Confederate agent, before securing a boat to row across the Potomac to Virginia.
After receiving aid from several Confederate sympathizers, Booth’s luck finally ran out. The countryside was swarming with military units looking for Booth, although few shared information since there was a $20,000 reward. While staying at the farm of Richard Garrett, Federal troops arrived on their search but soon rode on. The unsuspecting Garrett allowed his suspicious guests to sleep in his barn, but he instructed his son to lock the barn from the outside to prevent the strangers from stealing his horses. A tip led the Union soldiers back to the Garrett farm, where they discovered Booth and Herold in the barn. Herold came out, but Booth refused. The building was set on fire to flush Booth, but he was shot while still inside. He lived for three hours before gazing at his hands, muttering "Useless, useless..." as he died.
President Jefferson Davis holds a cabinet meeting at Charlotte, North Carolina, and he and his cabinet pledge to move west across Mississippi to continue the fight. The entourage sets out headed to the Mississippi River to carry on the struggle for Southern Independence. Secretary of the Treasury, George Alfred Trenholm, resigns due to poor health and will be replaced by Postmaster General John Henninger Reagan. Attorney General George Davis disagrees with Davis’ decision and resigns.
Joseph E. Johnston surrenders the Army of Tennessee to William T. Sherman near Durham Station, North Carolina. The surrender terms were the same that Hiram U. Grant had given to Robert E. Lee on 9 April. This marked the surrender of the Confederacy’s second largest army; Johnston also surrendered all forces in his department covering the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida, or a total of about 89,000 men. This ends the war east of the Alleghenies.
Final Terms of Surrender, April 26, 1865
Terms of a Military Convention, entered into this 26th day of April, 1865, at Bennitt's House, near Durham Station, North Carolina, between General Joseph E. Johnston, commanding the Confederate Army, and Major-General W.T. Sherman, commanding the United States Army in North Carolina:
1. All acts of war on the part of the troops under General Johnston's command to cease from this date.
2. All arms and public property to be deposited at Greensboro, and delivered to an ordinance-officer of the United States Army.
3. Rolls of all the officers and men to be made in duplicate; one copy to be given to an officer to be designated by General Sherman. Each officer and man to give individual obligation in writing not to take up arms against the Government of the United States, until properly released from this obligation.
4. The side-arms of officers, and their private horses and baggage, to be retained by them.
5. This being done, all the officers and men will be permitted to return to their homes, not to be disturbed by the United States authorities, so long as they observe their obligation and the laws in force where they may reside.
W. T. Sherman, Major-General
Commanding United States Forces in North Carolina
J. E. Johnston, General
Commanding Confederate States Forces in North Carolina
Approved: U. S. Grant, Lieutenant-General
Lafayette Curry Baker, USA, is appointed Brigadier General. Baker had taken charge of the Union Intelligence Service from the Scottish-American detective, Allan Pinkerton
Federal soldiers scout from Little Rock to the Saline River, a tributary of the Ouachita River in the south central portion of Arkansas.
An engagement occurs near Fort Rice, in the Dakota Territory, with either Cheyenne or Platte Indians, as the Indians attack and kill some of the Yankees herding horses toward Fort Rice.
Union operations continue in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, including shots fired by a small band of partisan guerrillas at the Federals and the refusal of Colonel William P. Thompson, CSA, and his Jackson's Confederate Cavalry--the 19th Regiment, Virginia Cavalry--command of about 100 to accept terms of surrender. They disband into the hills around the Shenandoah Valley.
John Wilkes Booth and David E. Herold are captured at Richard H. Garrett's Farm, near Port Royal, and north of Bowling Green, Virginia, where Booth is mortally wounded.
Full report: Early this morning, Union cavalry track John Wilkes Booth and David Herold to the Garrett farm in Bowling Green, Virginia, 12 days after he assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. Federals surround the barn housing Booth and Herold; Herold quickly surrenders, but Booth refuses and is shot in the back. Booth dies a few hours later.
The twenty-six-year-old Booth was one of the most famous actors in the country when he shot Lincoln during a performance at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C., on the night of 14 April. Booth was a Maryland native and a strong supporter of the Confederacy. As the war entered its final stages, Booth hatched a conspiracy to kidnap the president. He enlisted the aid of several associates, but the opportunity never presented itself. After the surrender of Robert E. Lee’s Confederate army at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, on April 9, Booth changed the plan to a simultaneous assassination of Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson, and Secretary of State William Seward. Only Lincoln was actually killed, however. Seward was stabbed by Lewis Paine but survived, while the man assigned to kill Johnson did not carry out his assignment.
After shooting Lincoln, Booth jumped to the stage below Lincoln’s box seat. He landed hard, breaking his leg, before escaping to a waiting horse behind the theater. Many in the audience recognized Booth, so the army was soon hot on his trail. Booth and his accomplice, David Herold, made their way across the Anacostia River and headed toward southern Maryland. The pair stopped at Dr. Samuel Mudd’s home, and Mudd treated Booth’s leg. This earned Mudd a life sentence in prison when he was implicated as part of the conspiracy, but the sentence was later commuted. Booth found refuge for several days at the home of Thomas A. Jones, a Confederate agent, before securing a boat to row across the Potomac to Virginia.
After receiving aid from several Confederate sympathizers, Booth’s luck finally ran out. The countryside was swarming with military units looking for Booth, although few shared information since there was a $20,000 reward. While staying at the farm of Richard Garrett, Federal troops arrived on their search but soon rode on. The unsuspecting Garrett allowed his suspicious guests to sleep in his barn, but he instructed his son to lock the barn from the outside to prevent the strangers from stealing his horses. A tip led the Union soldiers back to the Garrett farm, where they discovered Booth and Herold in the barn. Herold came out, but Booth refused. The building was set on fire to flush Booth, but he was shot while still inside. He lived for three hours before gazing at his hands, muttering "Useless, useless..." as he died.
