Ulysses Grant letter to Robert Lee, 8 April 1865

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[HEAD-QUARTERS ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATES]

April 8, 1865. GENERAL R. E. LEE

Commanding Confederate States Army :

GENERAL, Your note of last evening in reply to mine of the same date, asking the conditions on which I will accept surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, is just received. In reply I would say that, peace being my great desire, there is but one condition I would insist upon, namely, that the men and officers surrendered shall be disqualified for taking up arms again against the government of the United States until properly exchanged. I will meet you, or will designate officers to meet any officers you might name for the same purpose, at any point agreeable to you, for the purpose of arranging definitely the terms upon which the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia will be received.

U. S. GRANT,

Lieutenant- General.

Author:
Ulysses S. Grant

Source:
From Manassas to Appomattox Memoirs of the Civil War in America, James Longstreet, 1896