Question American Civil War.

Notebook

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Just listening to this:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0005f2k

Repeat of the transmission.

Statement just went through that Robert E. Lee signed an armistice with Grant?
Always thought it was a straightforward surrender?

EDIT: 19:50 in the link above.
N.
 
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Linguofreak

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I'm not sure what distinction you're making between armistice and surrender in this particular case. Neither Grant nor Lee had the authority to negotiate for their respective governments, only for the armies under their command. However, their respective armies were the primary armies on either side operating in the Eastern theater, and Lee was a man of considerable reputation in the South, so his surrender mostly ended the fighting, and, in general, other Confederate forces were sufficiently demoralized upon hearing news of his surrender to surrender in turn, and Lee's surrender is generally regarded as the effective end of the war.

The specific terms that Grant gave to Lee were:

"In accordance with the substance of my letter to you of the 8th inst., I propose to receive the surrender of the Army of N. Va. 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 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 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 officer 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 their homes, not to be disturbed by United States authority so long as they observe their paroles and the laws in force where they may reside."
 

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That's fair enough for me, guessing that is between soldiers and left for governments/politicians to sort out later.

Haven't heard that audio from the start, will have a listen later.

I've really only viewed the Civil War from its start to finish, not what happened later.

N.
 

Linguofreak

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That's fair enough for me, guessing that is between soldiers and left for governments/politicians to sort out later.

Another part of the reason Lee's surrender is seen as the end of the war is that, in the end, the Confederate government never capitulated: it quietly dissolved itself, and then Jefferson Davis was captured a few days later. Lee's army was probably the largest instrument of the Confederate government that surrendered officially and in one piece.

So while Lee didn't have any official authority to negotiate for the Confederate government, to some degree he had the moral authority to do so without even intending to do so, given that he controlled its largest single army, was well respected enough to demoralize everyone else by surrendering, and that the Confederate government basically disintegrated afterwards.
 
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