ID 1119207
Lot 151 | The earliest record of Lee's surrender
Estimate value
$ 600 000 – 800 000
Appomattox Court House, 9 April 1865
LEE'S SURRENDER AT APPOMATTOX – (LEE, Robert E., 1807-1870). PARKER, Ely S. (or DONEHOGAWA, 1828-1895). Autograph letter signed (“Official E.S. Parker Lt. Col. A.A.A.G.” and adding Lee's signature "(Signed) R. E, Lee Genl"), to Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, "Hd Qrs. A[rmy of] N[orthern] V[irgin]a," [Appomattox Court House], 9 April 1865. [With:] (GRANT, Ulysses S., 1822-1825). PARKER, Ely S. Autograph letter signed (“Official E.S. Parker Lt. Col. A.A.A.G.” and adding Grant's signature ("(Sgnd) U.S. Grant Lieut General") to Robert E. Lee, Appomattox Court House, 9 April 1865. [Also with:] PARKER, Ely S. Autograph document signed ("E.S. Parker Lt Col. AAAG"), "Special Orders," "Head Qrs. Armies of the U.S. In the Field," 9 April 1865
Four pages on [Philip and Solomon’s] manifold paper, 256 x 188mm. (Occasional creases.)
The earliest record of Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox—the event that signaled the imminent conclusion to the Civil War—part of the first official set of manifolds documenting the event. The earliest contemporary record of the final exchange of letters that effected the surrender of Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia—and the earliest extant copy of Lee’s acceptance of Grant’s terms in any form. From the papers of George H. Sharpe (1828-1900), Ulysses Grant's chief of intelligence, who oversaw the disbandment of Lee's army. A tremendous historic rarity—Ely Parker’s official transcription of Lee's acceptance of Grant’s terms, as the whereabouts of Lee's original letter to Grant is unknown [1].
Lee's surrender at Appomattox on 9 April 1865 was the conclusion of a long and bloody campaign against the Confederate capital that had begun ten months earlier in June 1864, when Grant's forces began to partly besiege the cities of Petersburg and the Confederate capitol of Richmond. Lee managed to hold Grant's forces at bay, enduring a punishing artillery bombardment and bloody trench warfare, until the start of April 1865, when he finally succumbed to the Union's overwhelming numbers and ordered his forces to evacuate. From Richmond, the Army of Northern Virginia began marching westward with hopes to effect a junction with Confederate forces under the command of Joseph E. Johnston in North Carolina.
As Lee retreated westward, Union columns shadowed his army just to the south to prevent them from joining forces with Johnston. On 7 April, after nearly a week of running battles, Grant opened direct communication with Lee: "The result of the last week must convince you of the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia in this struggle. I feel that it is so, and regard it as my duty to shift myself from the responsibility of any further effusion of blood, by asking of you the surrender of that portion of the C.S. Army known as the Army of Northern Virginia." To this, Lee replied that, although he disagreed with Grant's characterization of his situation as hopeless, he joined in Grant's wishes "to avoid useless effusion of blood, and therefore, before considering your proposition, ask the terms you will offer on condition of its surrender." Grant received this note the next day (8 April) and replied that the terms would be based on a single condition, "that the men and officer surrendered shall be disqualified from taking up arms again against the government of the United States until properly exchanged." To this, Lee replied that he "did not intend to propose the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, but to ask the terms of your proposition. To be frank, I do not think the emergency has arisen to call for the Surrender of this Army, but as the restoration of peace should be the Sole object of all, I desired to know whether your proposals would lead to that end." Lee then proposed that they meet the following day "on the old stage road to Richmond between the picket lines of the two armies" [2].
The same morning, Lee received word that a number of his officers had met the previous evening and had concluded that the situation was indeed hopeless and recommended an opening of negotiations. Lee refused to consider the proposition, hoping that his army could still escape the tightening noose. Lee's situation was further complicated when most of his army's supply train was captured by Union forces. With few provisions left, he decided to make one last frontal assault the next morning in a desperate attempt to escape. That attack quickly fizzled against overwhelming opposition the next morning. Out of options, Lee ordered a cease fire and wrote to Grant to arrange a meeting to "ascertain definitely what terms were embraced in your proposal of yesterday with reference to the surrender of this army." Grant received that message just before noon on 9 April and advised the Confederate General that he would "push forward to the front for the purpose of meeting you" [3].
The pair met at the home of Wilmer McClean at Appomattox Court House in the early afternoon. Lee arrived first, joining his aide Humphrey Marshall who had secured the permission of Wilmer Mclean to use his front parlor for the negotiations. Grant, with about a dozen of his staff including Generals Ord and Sheridan as well as key members of his staff including his chief of intelligence, Assistant Provost Marshal General George H. Sharpe and his adjutant, Lieutenant Colonel Ely S. Parker. Grant introduced Lee to his staff, and according to several accounts, when Lee was introduced to Parker, who happened to be a Seneca leader in the Tonawanda Reservation (Iroquois), the Confederate commander extended his hand and said, "I am glad to see one real American here." Parker shook Lee's hand and replied, "We're all Americans" [4].
Parker, in his role as Grant's adjutant, drafted the terms of surrender, of which the final copy presented to Lee read:
"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 to 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 home not to be disturbed by United States authority so long as they observe their parole and the laws in force where they may reside.”
Lee appeared relieved by the generous terms, agreed to them readily. He had his aide, Humphrey Marshall draft the following response: "I have received your letter of this date containing the terms of surrender of the army of Northern Virginia as proposed by you—As they are substantially the same as those expressed in your letter of the 8th inst, they are accepted—I will proceed to designate the proper officers to carry the stipulations into effect—" With the final letters signed around 3:00 PM, Lee asked if his men could retain their horses and mules—a request to which Grant readily agreed. Lee also informed Grant that his men were low on supplies and the Union commander made available the captured Confederate supply train to meet that need. The opposing commanders also agreed to appoint three commissioners from each army to manage the paroles that were to be issued to nearly 20,000 soldiers so they could being their long journeys home.
After Lee departed the McClean House, Ely Parker set again to work on his Philip and Solomon's Manifold Writer, a system that allowed the production of multiple copies of a letter or document using a stylus that activated thin sheets of paper infused with oil and carbon black when pressure was applied. It was with this device that Grant had written his penultimate draft of his final offer of terms to Lee [5]. His first task was to copy Grant and Lee's final exchange of letters as well as General orders No. 72, ordering that:
"Major General John Gibbon, Brevet Major General Charles Griffin and Brevet Major General Wesley Merritt are hereby designated to carry into effect the stipulations this day entered into between Genl. R. E. Lee, Commanding C. S. Armies and Lieut. Genl. U.S. Grant commanding Armies of the United States in which General Lee surrenders to General Grant the Army of Northern Virginia. Brevet Brig. Gen. George H. Sharpe, Assistant Provost Marshal General will receive and take charge of the rolls called for by the above mentioned stipulations."
George Sharpe and the disbandment of the Army of Northern Virginia
Of the four copies Parker is presumed to have produced with the single stroke of his stylus, one of them was given to George H. Sharpe (1829-1900), chief of the Bureau of Military Intelligence (BMI). Sharpe was born in Kingston, New York, educated at Rutgers and Yale, and established a law practice in New York in the late 1840s and 1850s—interrupted by a two year stint as Secretary of the U.S. Legation in Vienna. Sharpe served as a captain in a New York regiment for three months at the start of the Civil War but soon returned to civilian life before raising a regiment, the 120th New York Infantry, in 1862 and serving as its colonel.
In January 1863, General Joseph Hooker tasked Sharpe with establishing a formal military intelligence service which led to the formation of the Bureau of Military Information (BMI), considered the first "all source" intelligence agency, relying on multiple channels of information to assemble a clear picture of the intentions and overall strength of enemy forces. Sharpe and the BMI are perhaps best known for providing the critical intelligence that Lee had already committed the majority of his forces at Gettysburg—intelligence that convinced Meade to remain rather than withdraw from the battle: a move that proved to be a significant turning point in the war. Today, Sharpe is considered the father of modern military intelligence.
Sharpe’s services proved invaluable as Grant began his siege of Petersburg and Richmond in 1864 and, in July, the Union commander brought Sharpe’s BMI under the auspices of the Armies Operating Against Richmond, placing the intelligence service at his headquarters. The intelligence gathered by Sharpe’s agents proved invaluable throughout that campaign and even more so at Appomattox. When Lee asked Grant if he could access provisions for his surrendered army, the defeated Confederate commander estimated he required rations for 25,000 men. Sharpe’s keen accounting of the strength of Lee's army during the course of the Appomattox campaign allowed him to quickly ascertain the quantities necessary to comply with the request. Sharpe determined that Lee underestimated his strength by over 3,000.His accurate accounting allowed the parole of the Army of Northern Virginia to proceed as smoothly as possible.
While Sharpe issued numerous paroles for many of the high ranking Confederate officers, he did not do so for Lee, thinking the action would be seen as disrespectful and presumptuous. But one of Lee's aides reminded Sharpe that Lee was a member of the same army being paroled. After obtaining Grant's approval, Sharpe wrote out parole for Lee and his staff: "The within named officers will not be disturbed by the United States authorities as long as they observe their parole and the laws in force where they reside." This language would prove invaluable when the Radical Republicans in Congress were considering brining charges of treason against Lee. Lee used the parole in his defense, and when Grant learned of the possibility of Congress bringing charges, intervened personally—noting that Lee had observed the terms of his parole and citing Sharpe's language that the United States could not "disturb" the former Confederate commander [6].
Following the Civil War, the State Department appointed Sharpe a special agent and sent him to Europe to gather intelligence on suspected conspirators in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Sharpe would go on to a distinguished career, serving as Surveyor of the Port of New York, and later served as Speaker of the New York State Assembly before holding several important federal posts in the Administration of Chester A. Arthur, and Benjamin Harrison, before retiring in 1899.
Lee’s missing letter
In 1893, Charles H. T. Colis, a New York broker, became the chairman of a banquet held at the Waldorf on 27 April in honor of Grant's birthday. In preparation for the event, Colis attempted to assemble a keepsake reproducing the entire Grant-Lee correspondence form 7-9 April 1865. Yet even with the assistance of Major General John M. Schofield, who furnished originals of five letters from Lee housed in the files of the War Department, Colis was unable to secure the original letter Lee wrote accepting Grant's terms of surrender. However it is well-known that the assembled staff in the McClean House appreciated the historic significance of the event, and following Lee's departure, an informal auction was held to purchase nearly all the objects present in the room. Sheridan paid $20 in gold for the table used to sign the surrender letters, while General Ord secured the table on which Parker drafted Grant's terms. Even George Sharpe paid McClean ten dollars for a pair of candlesticks which are now part of the collections of the Kingston Historical Society.
Extremely Rare. Despite the widespread use of manifold paper by Grant’s staff toward the end of the Civil War, precious few examples remain extant—largely due to their fragility. In the instance of the present set of manifolds, it is presumed that four copies would have been produced in total: one for each of officers named in the Special Orders. At the time of writing, none of the other presumed sets have surfaced in either private or institutional holdings.
Provenance: George H. Sharpe – by descent to his granddaughter, Katherine Sharpe Dana, Providence, Rhode Island (given to her son:) – Arnold G. Dana, Providence, Rhode Island, September 1995 (per manuscript accompanying the manifolds) – by descent to the consignors.
______________________
[1] The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant, Vol 14, pp. 374-376, fn. Prior to the discovery of the present manifolds, the earliest record of Lee’s acceptance was recorded on manifold paper dated 11 April 1865, written by an officer on the brigade level. The manifold credited, dated 11 April 1865, is part of the collections of the Rosenbach Museum and Library. Additionally, Stratford Hall holds a fair copy of Lee's acceptance drafted in an unknown hand and signed by Theodore Bowers, a member of Grant's staff who was present in the McClean House. It is believed that this copy produced sometime in the afternoon of the 9th and was sent to Lee for his records.
[2] Ibid, 361-362, 367-368.
[3] Ibid, 371-373.
[4] Arthur C. Parker, The Life of Eli S. parker, Last Grand Sachem of the Iroquois and General Grant's Military Secretary. Buffalo: Buffalo Historical Society, 1919, p. 133.
[5] An edited draft of that manifold, retained by Parker is part of the collections of the New York Historical Society. The original manifold book used by Grant, Parker and other officers is in Princeton University Library’s Scheide Library.
[6] Lloyd A. Dunlap, "The Grant-Lee Surrender Correspondence: Some Notes and Queries." Manuscripts, Vol 21, No 2 (Spring 1969), pp. 89-91.
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