Dignity in defeat and graciousness in victory.
I’ve often wished, if I could go back in time, that I might have been present that day, April 9, 1865, in the parlor of Wilmer McLean of Appomattox Court House, Virginia. I would like to have seen General Robert E. Lee, tall and erect, dressed in dignity and a spotless gray uniform, jeweled sword at his side. Right away, I would have known he was the General of the Army of Northern Virginia.
But General Grant–would I have recognized him as being the leader of a victorious army in a grueling, heart-rending war? He arrived at the McLean farmhouse, muddy and disheveled, boots in bad need of a good cleaning.
Both men, Lee and Grant, who had slogged through a conflict which saw thousands of American deaths, the bloodiest war in our history, mortal enemies with deep dedication to their causes, were now face to face. They had met before, in the Mexican War, and Grant said he would never forget. At that time, they were not fighting each other.
General Lee negotiated the best terms he could for his soldiers. His concern was for those hungry and battle-worn men who would have followed him to the gates of Hell. And Grant gave as generously as he was able.
At the news that General Lee was ready to surrender, General Grant had felt elated but now, as he saw the deep sadness surrounding the man in gray, Grant’s gladness disappeared. And later, when the Union forces began to celebrate, he ordered them to stop. The war was over, Grant said, and the Rebels were their countrymen again.
The two generals who had been enemies shook hands. Lee mounted his gray horse Traveler, and started back to his camp. As he passed his men who lined the road, many of them ragged and shoeless, those Confederate soldiers cheered. They also wept. It was hard to see a Cause for which they had suffered much, disappear, but they loved their leader and their pride in being Lee’s soldiers was immeasurable.
Before General Lee disappeared into his tent, he told his followers, “Boys, I have done the best I could for you. Go home now, and if you make as good citizens as you have soldiers, you will do well, and I shall always be proud of you. Goodbye, and God bless you all.” __________
The Civil War, Jeffrey C. Ward, pp. 378-381.
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