.JOURNAL OFTIIE CHURCHILL CKNTER AND ... - Winston Churchill

might have defeated him a second time. Fortune, whichhad befriended him at Chancellorsville, now turnedagainst him. Stuart's long absence left him blind as to theenemy's movements at the most critical stage of the campaign,and it was during his absence that he made the fatalmistake of moving to the east side of the mountains. Lee'smilitary genius did not shine. He was disconcerted byStuart's silence, he was "off his balance," and his subordinatesbecame conscious of this mood. Above all he hadnot Jackson at his side. Longstreet's recalcitrance had ruinedall chance of success at Gettysburg. On Longstreetthe South laid the heavy blame.During the winter following Gettysburg there wasa pause. The North gathered its overwhelmingstrength for a sombre task. In the Spring of 1864Grant laid siege to Richmond while in the South Shermanlaid waste to Georgia. President Lincoln, though narrowlyreelected over an opponent who argued for a peace settlement,rebuffed a Confederate attempt at negotiation.President Davis appointed Lee his Commander-in-Chief,but every Confederate counter-offensive had beencrushed, and at last in early 1865, Grant closed upon itsstubborn capital.On April 2nd President Davis sat in his pew inthe church at Richmond. A messenger came up the aisle."General Lee requests immediate evacuation." Lee, disengaginghimself from Richmond, was pursued by morethan tliree times his numbers. Grant ventured to appeal toLee to recognise that his position was hopeless. Lee rodeon Traveller to Appomatox Court House to learn whatterms would be offered. Grant wrote them out in a fewsentences. They were generous: Lee's officers and soldiersmust surrender their arms and return on parole to theirhomes, not to be molested while they observed the laws ofthe United States. Grant added, "Your men must keeptheir horses. They will need them for the spring ploughing."This was the greatest day in the career of GeneralGrant, and stands high in the story of die United States.Thus ended the great American Civil War, whichmust upon the whole be considered the noblest and leastavoidable of all the great mass-conflicts of which till thenthere was record. Three quarters of a million men hadfallen on the battlefield. The North was plunged in debt;the South was ruined. The material advance of the UnitedStates was cast back for a spell. The genius of America wasimpoverished by the alienation of many of the parent elementsin the life and history of the Republic. But, as JohnBright said to his audience of English working folk, 'Atlast after the smoke of the battlefield had cleared away thehorrid shape which had cast its shadow over the wholecontinent had vanished and was gone for ever.'" $5Reprinted by permission from The Great Republic: A History of America,by Sir Winston Churchill, edited and arranged by Winston S.Churchill, soon to be published by Random House.ABRAHAM LINCOLN"By his constancy under many varied strains andamid problems which his training gave no key he had savedMr the Union with steel and flame. His thoughts were bent uponv healing his country's wounds. For this he possessed all the qual-* ities of spirit and wisdom, and wielded besides incomparableauthority. On April 11th he proclaimed the need of a broadand generous temper and urged the conciliation of the vanquished.At Cabinet on the 14th he spoke of Lee and otherConfederate leaders with kindness, and pointed to the pathsof forgiveness and goodwill. But that very night as he sat inhis box at Ford's Theater a fanatical actor, one of a murdergang, stole in from behind and shot him through the head....Lincoln died next day, withoutregaining consciousness, and with him vanished the only protector of the prostrate South."FINEST HOUR 103 / 23