rmistice till twelve o'clock, and the appointment of commissioners
to agree upon terms by which the fort and the prisoners should be
surrendered.

"No terms, other than unconditional and immediate surrender can be
accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your works," was General
Grant's reply.

General Buckner replied, that he thought it very _unchivalrous_, but
accepted the terms. He meant that he did not think it very honorable in
General Grant to require an unconditional surrender. He professed to
have a high sense of all that was noble, generous, honorable, and
high-minded. But a few days before he had so forgotten those qualities
of character, that he took some cattle from Rev. Mr. Wiggin of
Rochester, Kentucky, one of his old acquaintances, and paid him with a
check of three hundred dollars on the Southern Bank at Russelville. When
Rev. Mr. Wiggin called at the bank and presented the check, the cashier
told him that General Buckner never had had any money on deposit there,
and the bank did not owe him a dollar! He cheated and swindled the
minister, and committed the crime of forgery, which would have sent him
to the state-prison in time of peace.

The morning dawned,--Sunday morning, calm, clear, and beautiful. The
horrible nights were over and the freezing days gone by. The air was
mild, and there was a gentle breeze from the south, which brought the
blue-birds. They did not mind the soldiers or the cannon, but chirped
and sang in the woods as merrily as ever.

I saw the white flag flying on the breastworks. The soldiers and sailors
saw it, and cheered. General Grant had moved his head-quarters to the
steamboat Uncle Sam, and, as I happened to be on board that boat, I saw
a great deal that took place.

The gunboats, and all the steamboats, fifty or more, began to move up
the river. Dense clouds of smoke rolled up from the tall chimneys. The
great wheels plashed the sparkling stream. Flags were flying on all the
staffs. The army began its march into the fort. The bands played. How
grand the crash of the drums and the trumpets! The soldiers marched
proudly. The columns were winding along the hills,--the artillery, the
infantry, the cavalry, with all their banners waving, and the bright
sunshine gleaming and glistening on their bayonets! They entered the
fort, and planted their standards on the embankments. The gunboats and
the field artillery fired a grand salute. From the steamboats, from the
hillside, f