councils of the government; and it was
not in Andrew Johnson and Mr. Stanton to pass over a mistake like this,
even in the case of one of the most illustrious captains of the age.
They ordered Grant to proceed at once to Sherman's headquarters, and to
direct operations against the enemy; and, what was worse, Mr. Stanton
printed in the newspapers the reasons of the government for disapproving
the agreement in terms of sharpest censure of General Sherman. This,
when it came to his notice some weeks later, filled him with hot
indignation, and, coupled with some orders Halleck, who had been made
commander of the armies of the Potomac and the James, issued to Meade,
to disregard Sherman's truce and push forward against Johnston, roused
him to open defiance of the authorities he thought were persecuting him,
and made him declare in a report to Grant, that he would have maintained
his truce at any cost of life. Halleck's order, however, had been
nullified by Johnston's surrender, and Grant, suggesting that this
outburst was uncalled for, offered Sherman the opportunity to correct
the statement. This he refused, insisting that his record stand as
written, although avowing his readiness to obey all future orders of
Grant and the President.

So far as Johnston was concerned, the war was indeed over. He was unable
longer to hold his men together. Eight thousand of them left their camps
and went home in the week of the truce, many riding away on the
artillery horses and train mules. On notice of Federal disapproval of
his negotiations with Sherman, he disregarded Jefferson Davis's
instructions to disband the infantry and try to escape with the cavalry
and light guns, and answered Sherman's summons by inviting another
conference, at which, on April 26, he surrendered all the forces in his
command on the same terms granted Lee at Appomattox; Sherman supplying,
as did Grant, rations for the beaten army. Thirty-seven thousand men and
officers were paroled in North Carolina--exclusive, of course, of the
thousands who had slipped away to their homes during the suspension of
hostilities.

After Appomattox the rebellion fell to pieces all at once. Lee
surrendered less than one sixth of the Confederates in arms on April 9.
The armies that still remained, though inconsiderable when compared with
the mighty host under the national colors, were yet infinitely larger
than any Washington ever commanded, and capable of strenuous resistance
and