William T. Sherman to Ulysses S. Grant, Smithfield, North Carolina, April 12, 1865

    Source citation
    Reprinted in War Department, et al., The war of the rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies.; Series 1 - Volume XLVII , Part 3 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1896), 177. 
    Type
    Military record
    Date Certainty
    Exact
    Transcriber
    John Osborne, Dickinson College
    Transcription date
    The following text is presented here in complete form, as it originally appeared in print. Spelling and typographical errors have been preserved as in the original.
    Hdqrs. Military Division of the Mississippi, 
    In the Field, Smithfield, N. C, April 12, 1865 — 5 a. m. 
    (Received 2.20 p. m. 14th.) 
     
    Lieut. Gen. U. S. Grant, 
    Commanding Armies of the United States, Virginia: 
     
    General : I have this moment received your telegram announcing the surrender of Lee's army. 1 hardly know how to express my feelings, but you can imagine them. The terms you have given Lee are magnanimous and liberal. Should Johnston follow Lee's example I shall of course grant the same. He is retreatingbefore me on Raleigh, but I shall be there to-morrow. Roads are heavy, but under the inspiration of the news from you we can march twenty-five miles a day. I am now twenty-seven miles from Raleigh, but some of my army is eight miles behind. If Johnston retreats south I will follow him to insure the scattering of his force and capture of the locomotives and cars at Charlotte: but I take it be will surrender at Raleigh. Kilpatrick's cavalry is ten miles to the south and west of me, viz, on Middle Creek, and I have sent Major Audenried with orders to make for the south and west of Raleigh to impede the enemy if he goes beyond Raleigh. All the infantry is pointed straight for Raleigh by five different roads. The railroad is being repaired from Goldsborough to Raleigh, but I will not aim to carry it farther. I shall expect to hear from General Sheridan in case Johnston does not surrender at Raleigh . With a little more cavalry I would be sure to capture the whole army. 
    Yours, truly, 
     
    W. T. SHERMAN, 
     
    Major- General. 
    How to Cite This Page: "William T. Sherman to Ulysses S. Grant, Smithfield, North Carolina, April 12, 1865," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/43892.