The End of the Civil War

Jay Winik

How wars end is every bit as important as why they start or how they're fought. Put differently, far too many civil wars throughout history end quite badly. Think of Northern Ireland. It's gone on for some 200 years. Think of Lebanon, Rwanda, Cambodia. Think of the horrors of the Middle East or the Balkans today. Our civil war could have ended as badly, with the same terrible, tragic consequences, but didn't. Why? That's a question I wanted to answer and which I do answer in my book, April 1865.

In April 1865... I strip away the inevitability of events, so that rather than seeing the Civil War with the comfort of 136 years or 140 years of hindsight, you see the events as they take place; you see the decisions as they saw them; you see the turning points as they saw them; and you see how events could have just as easily gone one way or gone another way. It's that kind of richness of history that I wanted to bring alive.

Robert E. Lee was the moral conscience of the South, as General Wise, one of his top men, once said to him. Near the end of the war, they were talking about what would happen next. Wise had ridden through the lines. He dismounted his horse, and he had actually fallen in Virginia quicksand, and he was caked with red mud, and he looked ridiculous.

They joked a bit, but then they talked about the end of the war. Lee raised the dreaded concept of surrender, and he said, "What will the country think?"

And Wise looked over at Lee, and he said, "Country? My God, man, you are the country to these men." So, in other words, Lee was the country to the Southerners. Whether or not he would decide to deal with the Northerners with honor and dignity and to become good citizens again, or with rage and continued civil war and civil violence, he would be the determinant of that.

City Point is in Virginia, and it's where Ulysses S. Grant, the commanding general of the Union armies, had his floating fortress. City Point was, in effect, an armed command post for the Northern Army as they were encircling Lee's army in Petersburg and in Richmond. They met on March 24 where Lincoln actually wanted to see the front lines and confer with his commanding generals.

It was from City Point that Lincoln, in that same meeting, spoke about his fears of guerrilla warfare and his fear that there would be a final bloody Armageddon; he did something quite unique. Abraham Lincoln said, "When the war is over, there must be no hangings, there must be no bloody work."

What was looming large in his mind was the specter of the French Revolution because it loomed large in the minds of all Americans.

In the French Revolution, the revolutionaries started out with the best of intentions, and before everybody knew it, they were guillotining the opposition, and they were guillotining each other. Before everybody knew it, violence engulfed all of a continent.

In effect, what Lincoln said was, "There must be no French Revolution here." It was prescient, and it was visionary and it was one of Lincoln's finest acts and finest moments. And Grant would carry it out brilliantly at Appomattox during the surrender, where rather than treating Lee like a defeated, dishonored foe, he treated him with great dignity and grace. It was one of the most poignant scenes in our history.

Just think about it, the morning that Lee had made this fateful decision that he's going to surrender. At that point, he straightened himself up, and he said, "Now I must go meet General Grant, and I would rather die a thousand deaths than do that." History has, more often than not, telescoped and simplified what happened, said that Lee was vain and quixotic in retreat, and then said there was the dignity of Appomattox, the end of war, end of history.

In truth, it's far richer. Let's ask the first question. How would Lee be treated when he went to meet U. S. Grant? He didn't know. What we do know is that Lee, that morning, was actually quite nervous, uncharacteristically so. He was speaking in mumbled half sentences.

And he should have been nervous because, throughout history, as he knew all too well, defeated generals and revolutionaries and traitors were typically beheaded, or they were hanged, or they were imprisoned or, like General Napoleon, they were exiled.

In fact, that very morning, the Chicago Tribune editorialized: "Hang Lee." And just days earlier, in the Union capital of Washington, D.C., Andrew Johnson, the vice president of the Union, went out with several senators and before a thronging crowd of hundreds, maybe over 1,000, gave a rousing speech in which he said, "We must hang Davis, we must hang Lee. We must hang them twenty times." So, in fact, Lee didn't know what to expect. Grant would treat him with such tenderness and dignity, and it's such a rich scene. Grant was carrying out Lincoln's vision at City Point of no bloody work, no hangings. But it is really unique in the chain of history.

Interestingly enough, when they first walked into Appomattox Court House, Lee was wearing his finest uniform because, as he said, "Now I must become General Grant's prisoner," and Grant, came in in a mud-spattered private's blouse.

In fact, later on in history, he would apologize for how he was attired.

Picture this scene for a second: this small, little home, Wilmer McLean's house, in Appomattox Court House, a little village of about eight structures or so, and rolling hills. Outside in those rolling hills were thousands of men, who were standing at rapt attention to watch this amazing piece of historical theater take place.

In fact, when the surrender was over—I'm going to digress for a second—everything would be ripped apart from the Wilmer McLean house: the desk, the pens, the floorboards, the wallpaper. Even a tree that Lee himself leaned against that morning would be ripped apart because everybody knew that history was taking place that day, and they wanted a piece of it.

But inside this small, little home, rather than talk about the surrender, they talked about the old days... Grant said: "You know, I remember you from the Mexican War, and what was it you did?" Lee looked at him and he said, "All these times in this battle, I've tried to recall your face. I could never quite do it." They continued to chat happily. They continued on and on, and it was eventually Lee who said, "I suppose we must discuss the object at hand, the surrender."

So though they didn't know each other, the bonds that were forged and the closeness they had almost defied the fact that they were the greatest nemeses one could imagine.

On April 9, Robert E. Lee surrendered to U. S. Grant—that dignified, honorable surrender. Yet he only surrendered his army. There were still three Confederate armies in the field. There were over 175,000 men, their murderous gun barrels hot to the bitter end. There was Jefferson Davis, the Confederate president, calling for guerrilla warfare.

Even Robert E. Lee's wife, Mary Lee - who was directly descended from Martha Washington, the great-granddaughter, and by marriage to George Washington, she said, "Robert E. Lee is not the Confederacy. Richmond is not the Confederacy." That's how volatile the situation still was.

How much longer would the war last? Three weeks? Three months? Six months? As Lincoln knew and feared, throughout history such time spans had been enough to start, fight, and win wars, to unseat great dynasties or to complicate the reconciliation to come. And five days later, Lincoln was dead. He was killed on April 14 at 10:14 at night. And William Seward, the Union's Secretary of State, was stabbed five times.

Only Andrew Johnson escaped unscathed. Had he been assassinated that night, there would have been a complete decapitation of the Union government.

I figured that the transition mechanism was all very simple, the vice president would become the president. In fact the picture was far murkier and far more complex in April 1865. Because, as it turned out, when I went to check this question, the founders did not intend for the vice president to become president. They only intended for him to temporarily act as president until there was an election. So on that fateful evening, Lincoln was shot, and Seward was ailing with five wounds, and Johnson had never been expected to become a president. He was widely written off as a buffoon in Washington circles.

In fact, Edwin Stanton was basically running things for the first day and a half. Temptations for a regency or Cabinet-style government were great, or for that matter, for a military-style intervention. After the assassination of Lincoln, there would be such turmoil, such chaos and anarchy gripping the Union Capital.

In fact, The New York Times would editorialize: "If this were France, all the country would be in bloody revolution by twenty-four hours." They were in such turmoil that the Union Cabinet would soon be discussing whether or not, in effect, a Napoleonic coup was under way. Who did they think was behind it? None other than one of their greatest generals, Bill Sherman. That's why I think it's so important to go back and recreate the world, not as we see it with hindsight but as they saw it, so we can see the turning points that they confronted.

The Bennett House story is the story that we never hear about. Appomattox is usually viewed as the end of the war on April 9. But, of course, there were still three Confederate armies in the field, and Davis calling for guerrilla warfare. Five days later, there was a tripartite assassination attempt of Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, and Seward. The Union was in total chaos. What took place in the Bennett House in North Carolina was the final surrender of the other principal army of the Confederacy, which was commanded by Joe Johnston.

It was ten days' worth of negotiations where Sherman first sat down with Johnston and John Breckinridge. At one point, the Confederates laid down such terms, and Sherman moved his chair back and said, "Well, see here, who's surrendering to whom?" But in fact, Sherman gave very generous terms to the Confederates. In doing so, he thought he was carrying out Lincoln's vision. But he was sharply rebuked by the Union Cabinet, particularly after the death of Lincoln. Grant was actually sent to talk to Sherman. And quite a few important people in the Union Cabinet were worried that Sherman might decide to arrest Grant because they were convinced that Sherman was potentially thinking of some kind of a coup, and he was getting ready to march northward with his legions to take over. That's the kind of chaos and anarchy that was gripping the North in the post-Lincoln assassination period.

So if Johnston had decided to go to the hills and along with Lee start sanctioning some kind of guerrilla warfare, we would have been in a real mess. But Johnston instead followed Lee's example and he, too, surrendered, in this act of basic insubordination. In doing so, it really paved the way for this country to become not like the Balkans, not like the Middle East, not like Lebanon or Cambodia or these other civil war-torn countries, or Northern Ireland, but to become like America today.

内战的结束

杰伊·温尼克

战争怎样结束，与战争为何发生，或是如何进行，同等重要。换句话说，纵观历史，有太多内战的结局极坏。想想北爱尔兰，内战已进行了200多年。想想黎巴嫩、卢旺达、柬埔寨。想想今天中东和巴尔干地区内战的惨状。我们的内战本来也可能那样极坏地结束，带来同样可怕而悲惨的后果，但结局并非如此，为什么呢？这是我曾想回答的问题，也是我在《1865年4月》一书中回答的问题。

在《1865年4月》中……我揭穿了一些事件的必然性，因此我没有以战争发生后136年或140年的认识平静地看待这场内战，而是以人们当时的眼光去看那些事件、那些决策、那些关键时刻，这样你会发现那些事件很可能会有完全不同的结局。我极力想展现出这段历史所蕴藏的丰富内涵。

罗伯特·E.李，正如他的高级将领怀斯将军曾对他说的那样，是南方道德良知的象征。战争快结束时，他们两人谈论着局势会怎样发展。那天怀斯骑马穿越前线，他在下马时掉进了弗吉尼亚流沙，全身沾满红泥，这令他看上去十分滑稽。

他们俩说笑了一番，然后开始讨论战争结局的话题。李提起他极不愿提及的投降设想，问道：“我们的国家会怎么看？”

怀斯看了看李，说国家？天哪，难道你不知道，对这些士兵来说，你就代表国家？”因而换句话说，对南方人而言，李就等于国家。无论是他决定以体面和尊严应对北方人，当个好公民，还是心怀怒火地继续打下去，继续以暴力对付北方，都取决于他。

锡蒂波因特位于弗吉尼亚州，在这里北部军队统帅尤利塞斯·S.格兰特有一个流动堡垒。锡蒂波因特事实上是北军在包围驻守在彼得斯堡和里士满的李的军队时的一个武装指挥所。3月24日林肯在此会见了格兰特，林肯来此是想视察前线并与将领们商谈。

就是在锡蒂波因特的这次会见中，林肯谈到他担心南军会打游击战，他担心最后会有一场血腥大决战。林肯于是做出了非凡之举。他说这场战争结束时，绝不允许有绞刑，绝不允许有血腥之举。”

法国大革命的恐怖阴影笼罩在他的心头，因为这也是所有美国人所担心害怕的。

法国大革命时期，革命者怀着极好的目的发动这场革命，但人们尚未弄清楚这一点，他们就将对手送上了断头台，并相互残杀。人们还没弄清楚这一点，暴力活动就席卷了整个欧洲大陆。

林肯这番话的实质就是：“这里决不允许发生法国大革命。”这是一个有卓识有远见的决策，这是林肯最好的举措之一，是他人生中最美妙的时刻之一。之后在阿波马托克斯受降过程中，格兰特完美地执行了这一决策，他没有把李当成被打败的、应该蒙受耻辱的敌人来对待，而是给予了极大的尊严与体谅。那是我们历史上最感人的场景之一。

想想李做出重大的投降决定的那个上午的情况。在那一刻，他挺直身躯说道现在我必须去见格兰特将军，我宁愿死一千次也不愿这么做。”历史记载往往压缩并简化所发生的事，把李的投降说成是无望的、堂吉诃德式的撤退。但之后又说，阿波马托克斯一事体现了尊严，标志着战争的结束、那段历史的结束。

实际上发生在阿波马托克斯的事件，其内涵要丰富得多。第一个问题是：当李去会见U.S.格兰特时，格兰特会怎样对待他？李自己并不知道。我们所了解的是，那天早晨李其实非常紧张，出乎寻常地紧张。他说话含含糊糊、语无伦次。

他的紧张完全事出有因，因为历史上战败的将领、革命者和叛徒一般都要被砍头、绞死，或被囚禁，或像拿破仑将军那样被流放，对此他再清楚不过了。

事实上，就在那个上午，《芝加哥论坛报》发表社论：“绞死李。”此前几天，在北部首府华盛顿特区，北部联邦副总统安德鲁·约翰逊和几位参议员，面对几百，也可能是一千多名蜂拥而至的民众，发表了一次煽动性的讲话，他说：“必须绞死戴维斯，必须绞死李，把他们绞死20遍也不为过。”因此李确实不知道会发生什么事。而格兰特却以仁慈和尊严待之，此景象寓意极深。格兰特执行了林肯在锡蒂波因特做出的“无血腥之举、无绞刑”的决策。这是历史上真正的罕见之举。

有趣的是，当他们俩首次走进阿波马托克斯时，李穿着他最好的军服，他说我肯定会成为格兰特的战俘。”格兰特却穿着一件溅满泥浆的列兵夹克衫来了。

后来，据历史记载，他对这般穿着深表歉意。

想象一下这个场景：一个小小的、可爱的家——那是威尔默·麦克莱恩的房子，在阿波马托克斯的小村庄，那里有八幢左右的建筑和延绵起伏的丘陵。雇外绵延起伏的丘陵里，上千的士兵全神贯注地站着，观赏着这一幕令人惊叹的历史剧。

事实上，受降仪式过后——请允许我跑题片刻——威尔默·麦克莱恩房子里的所有物品都被抢走了：那张桌子，那些钢笔以及地板和壁纸。就连那天上午李靠过的那棵树也未能幸免。大家都明白，那天发生了一起重大的历史事件，人人都想要点见证物。

在这小巧而可爱的家里，格兰特只字不提投降一事，而是和李谈起了往事……他说墨西哥战争那会儿，我就知道有你这个人，你那时干什么差事？”李看了看他，说道在这场战斗中，我一直努力回想你的模样，可总记不起来。”他们俩接着兴高采烈地谈了起来，他们一直聊啊聊，最后还是李说“我想我们应该讨论投降这件事了。”

就这样，尽管过去互不相识，但他俩之间的关系以及亲密程度简直令人难以相信他们曾是宿敌。

4月9日这天，罗伯特.E.李向U.S.格兰特投降——这是一次有尊严的、体面的投降。不过，李只能交出他本人指挥的部队，战场上还有三支南部邦联的部队，总计175，000多个士兵，他们都端着颇具杀伤力的步枪，准备奋战到底。此外，南部邦联总统杰斐逊·戴维斯还在鼓吹游击战。

就连罗伯特·E.李的妻子，玛丽·李（她是美国首位第一夫人玛莎·华盛顿的直系曾孙女）也说李不代表南部邦联，里士满也不是整个南部邦联。”当时的形势就是如此捉摸不定。

这场战争还能再打多久？三周？三个月？六个月？林肯知道历史上这样一段时间足以发动、进行并赢得一场战争，甚至推翻一个强大的朝代，或是使即将达成的和解难以实现，这也正是他所忧虑的事。五天后，林肯便去世了。他在4月14日晚10点14分遭暗杀。北部联邦的国务卿威廉·苏厄德被捅了五刀。

只有安德鲁·约翰逊免遭伤害。如果那晚他也遭暗杀，联邦政府就会群龙无首。

我曾经以为过渡机制很简单，副总统自然会出任总统。但事实上，1865年4月的局势极不明朗，十分复杂。因为当我对这个问题进行研究时，出乎意料地发现，华盛顿的元老们（在立宪时）根本就没有打算让副总统担任总统。他们仅仅打算在大选之前让他临时尽总统之职。因此在那个可怕的夜晚，当林肯被枪杀，苏厄德身中五刀时，没有人期待约翰逊当总统。华盛顿政界不少人视他为小丑。

实际上，林肯被害后的一天半里，基本上是埃德温·斯坦顿在主事。那时，采取摄政制或是建立内阁政府，甚至军方干预，都有极大的诱惑力。林肯遇刺之后，骚动、混乱、无政府状态笼罩着联邦首都。

事实上，《纽约时报》完全可能发表这样的社论：“如果这是在法国，24小时内，全国就会陷入一场血腥的革命之中。”极度混乱的局势使联邦政府可能很快就要讨论一次拿破仑式的政变是否已经开始。他们认为是谁在搞政变？不是别人，正是他们一个伟大的将军，比尔·舍曼。这就是为什么我强调要回到过去，重现当时的情形，不要以后见之明去审视当时的局势，而是从人们当时的角度看问题。这样我们就能看清那时人们所面临的转折点。

我们没听说过本尼特农场上发生的事情。4月9日发生在阿波马托克斯的受降一般被视为内战结束的标志。不过在那之后，战场上仍然有三支南部邦联的军队，戴维斯还在鼓吹游击战。五天之后，针对林肯、安德鲁·约翰逊和苏厄德的三起谋杀发生了。美国完全陷入混乱。乔·约翰斯顿指挥的南部邦联剩余的主要部队最终投降，位于北卡罗来纳州的本尼特农场见证了这一重要时刻。

谈判持续了十天，这是舍曼首次与约翰斯顿和约翰·布雷肯里奇一起坐在谈判桌前。谈判进行到某个时候，南方邦联提出的条件使得舍曼往后移动了一下自己的椅子，说道：“不过，请注意，现在究竟是谁在向谁投降？”事实上，舍曼答应给对方十分优惠的条件。他认为这样做是贯彻林肯的决策，然而他却受到联邦政府的严厉批评，尤其是在林肯逝世之后。格兰特被派去与他谈话。相当一部分政府要员担心舍曼会扣押格兰特，他们深信舍曼极有可能在考虑发动政变，并正准备带领部队北上，接管政府。林肯被刺杀后的这段时间里，北方深陷在这种无秩序、无政府的混乱状态中。

假如约翰斯顿决定上山，和李将军共同发动游击战，局势真的就会一团糟了。但是他没有这样做，而是以李为榜样，违抗上司的命令，也向北方投降了。此举使我们国家没有变成饱受内战折磨的国家，没有变成巴尔干半岛诸国，没有变成中东、黎巴嫩、柬埔寨或北爱尔兰，而是成为了今天的美国。

Key Words:

strip [strip]     

n. 长条，条状，脱衣舞

v. 脱衣，剥夺，剥

conscience     ['kɔnʃəns]      

n. 良心，责任心，顾忌

inevitability    [in,evitə'biləti]

n. 必然性；不可逃避

ridiculous       [ri'dikjuləs]    

adj. 荒谬的，可笑的

comfort  ['kʌmfət]

n. 舒适，安逸，安慰，慰藉

rage       [reidʒ]    

n. 狂怒，大怒，狂暴，肆虐，风行

v. 大怒

dignity    ['digniti] 

n. 尊严，高贵，端庄

unique    [ju:'ni:k]  

adj. 独一无二的，独特的，稀罕的

command      [kə'mɑ:nd]    

n. 命令，指挥，控制

v. 命令，指挥，支配

determinant   [di'tə:minənt] 

n. 行列式(决定因素) adj. 决定性的

spoke     [spəuk]  

v. 说，说话，演说

warfare   ['wɔ:fɛə]  

n. 战争，冲突

confer     [kən'fə:]  

vi. 商讨

vt. 赠予，授予

grant      [grɑ:nt]  

n. 授予物，补助金; 同意，给予

n. 财产

surrender      [sə'rendə]      

v. 投降，让与，屈服

opposition     [.ɔpə'ziʃən]     

n. 反对，敌对，在野党

vain [vein]     

adj. 徒劳的，无效的，自负的，虚荣的

quixotic   [kwik'sɔtik]    

adj. 唐吉诃德式的，狂想家的

dignity    ['digniti] 

n. 尊严，高贵，端庄

grant      [grɑ:nt]  

n. 授予物，补助金; 同意，给予

n. 财产

revolution      [.revə'lu:ʃən]  

n. 革命，旋转，转数

decision  [di'siʒən]

n. 决定，决策

visionary ['viʒənəri]

adj. 幻影的，幻想的，有远见卓识的 n. 空想家，梦

violence  ['vaiələns]      

n. 暴力，猛烈，强暴，暴行

retreat    [ri'tri:t]    

n. 休息寓所，撤退，隐居

grant      [grɑ:nt]  

n. 授予物，补助金; 同意，给予

n. 财产

dignity    ['digniti] 

n. 尊严，高贵，端庄

unique    [ju:'ni:k]  

adj. 独一无二的，独特的，稀罕的

tenderness     ['tendənis]     

n. 温柔，娇嫩，柔软

prisoner  ['prizənə]

n. 囚犯

apologize       [ə'pɔlədʒaiz]   

vi. 道歉，谢罪

scene      [si:n]

n. 场，景，情景

blouse    [blauz]   

n. 女衬衫

uniform  ['ju:nifɔ:m]     

n. 制服

surrender      [sə'rendə]      

v. 投降，让与，屈服

n. 投降，屈服，放弃

honorable      ['ɔnərəbl]

adj. 光荣的，可敬的，尊敬的

digress   [dai'gres]

v. 走向岔道，离开本题，扯到枝节上

eventually      [i'ventjuəli]    

adv. 终于，最后

grant      [grɑ:nt]  

n. 授予物，补助金; 同意，给予

n. 财产

warfare   ['wɔ:fɛə]  

n. 战争，冲突

complicate     ['kɔmplikeit]  

vt. 弄复杂，使错综，使起纠纷

election   [i'lekʃən] 

n. 选举

intended [in'tendid]     

adj. 故意的，有意的；打算中的 n. 已订婚者 v.

temporarily    ['tempərerili]  

adv. 暂时地，临时地

mechanism    ['mekənizəm] 

n. 机制，原理

n. 机械，机构，结构

check      [tʃek]     

n. 检查，支票，账单，制止，阻止物，检验标准，方格图案

transition       [træn'ziʃən]   

n. 过渡，转变

unscathed      ['ʌn'skeiðd]   

adj. 没有受伤的，未受损害

confederacy   [kən'fedərəsi] 

n. 同盟，联邦，共谋 Confederacy：（美国南

volatile    ['vɔlətail] 

adj. 挥发性的，反复无常的，易变的，易爆的

anarchy  ['ænəki] 

n. 无政府状态，混乱

gripping ['gripiŋ]  

adj. 引起注意的 动词grip的现在分词形式

intervention   [.intə'venʃən] 

n. 插入，介入，调停

warfare   ['wɔ:fɛə]  

n. 战争，冲突

revolution      [.revə'lu:ʃən]  

n. 革命，旋转，转数

surrender      [sə'rendə]      

v. 投降，让与，屈服

n. 投降，屈服，放弃

coup       [ku:]

n. 政变，砰然的一击，妙计，出乎意料的行动

assassination [ə.sæsi'neiʃən]

n. 暗杀

turmoil   ['tə:mɔil] 

n. 骚动，混乱

confederacy   [kən'fedərəsi] 

n. 同盟，联邦，共谋

anarchy  ['ænəki] 

n. 无政府状态，混乱

generous       ['dʒenərəs]    

adj. 慷慨的，宽宏大量的，丰盛的，味浓的

convinced      [kən'vinst]     

adj. 信服的

gripping ['gripiŋ]  

adj. 引起注意的 动词grip的现在分词形式

grant      [grɑ:nt]  

n. 授予物，补助金; 同意，给予

n. 财产

coup       [ku:]

n. 政变，砰然的一击，妙计，出乎意料的行动

cabinet   ['kæbinit]      

n. 橱柜，内阁

adj. 私人的

warfare   ['wɔ:fɛə]  

n. 战争，冲突

arrest      [ə'rest]   

vt. 逮捕，拘留

n. 逮捕，拘留

chaos     ['keiɔs]   

n. 混乱，无秩序，混沌

参考资料：