As no news had come to Grant from Rich-mond, he rode out to a line where he thought he could get news and on his way a note was put in his hands from Gen. Weit-zel. It said, “Rich-mond is ours. The foe left in great haste and have set fire to the town.”
[Illustration: SOUTHERN TROOPS RETREATING FROM RICHMOND.]
Then all a-long the line of the Un-ion troops came up a great cry; “Rich-mond is ours! Rich-mond is ours!”
But, if Lee had left, the “Boys in Blue” must make haste to catch him. He fled to the west with his starved and worn-out troops, but Grant gave close chase and Sher-i-dan “hung on his flanks.” Lee turned this way and that, and there were some more fights, but at length he had to give in. At a time when Sher-i-dan had his men drawn up, and the word “Charge” was al-most on his lips, a white flag was seen. The man who brought it had come from Lee who was at Ap-po-mat-tox Court House. Lee had sent to ask that there might not be a fight till he knew what Grant’s terms of peace were.
[Illustration: UNION CAVALRY IN PURSUIT OF LEE’S ARMY.]
At last both great chiefs met to-geth-er in the small town of Ap-po-mat-tox at a plain farm house.
They shook hands and Lee asked Grant to write out his terms and said he would sign them. Grant drew up the terms and Lee signed them as he had said he would. Then the two great lead-ers shook hands a-gain and both rode off. This was on the 9th of A-pril, 1865.
In the south, John-ston, who led the foe there, could make no stand a-lone, so, at the end of 17 days, he gave up to Gen. Sher-man. Small sets of the foe, placed here and there, al-so gave up, and the four years of blood came to an end.
The ar-mies of the Un-ion had put down the “Great Re-bel-lion” and peace had come. So vast a war had ne’er been known in mod-ern times, and men more brave than those who fought on both sides could not be found in an-y land.
RETURN OF PEACE; LINCOLN SHOT; HIS BURIAL AT SPRINGFIELD.
“Pres-i-dent Lin-coln in Rich-mond,” af-ter the “Con-fed-er-a-cy” fell to pie-ces, made a scene such as was ne’er be-fore known in all his-to-ry. There was none of the pomp and show such as a great chief in oth-er lands would have had who put down a brave foe and gained a great cause.