President Lincoln first received word of Thursday's fighting at 11:15 that night. General Phil Sheridan telegraphed a brief report to General Grant; Grant forwarded it along to the president. The president forwarded it along to Secretary of War Stanton in the morning.

General Sheridan sounded confident and enthusiastic in his account of the day's fighting. He began by stating simply that “the enemy made a stand,” but that he attacked with two divisions of the Sixth Corps “and routed them handsomely.”1 His listing of the Sixth Corps’ activities sounded more impressive: “Up to the present time we have captured Generals [Richard] Ewell, [Joseph] Kershaw, [Seth M.] Barton, [Montgomery E.] Corse, [Dudley] DuBose, and Custis Lee, several thousand prisoners, 14 pieces of artillery with caissons and a large number of wagons.” Sheridan ended with: “If the thing is pressed I think Lee will surrender.”

Secretary Stanton immediately wired his congratulations to President Lincoln “on the glorious news of this morning.”² He also let the president know that Secretary of State William Seward was recovering from his injuries, and that he was in good spirits. The communiqué concerning the results of yesterday's fighting was the main reason for Seward's high morale: “Your news stimulates him better than anything the apothecary could give.”

General Sheridan's message had the same effect on Lincoln; it was the best news he could have hoped for. Later in the morning, he received even more encouraging news about Sayler's Creek. General Grant forwarded three telegrams from generals who had taken part in the fighting. The first was from General Andrew A. Humphries, commander of the Second Corps. “Our last fight just before dark at Sailors Creek gave us two (2) guns 3 flags considerable number of prisoners 200 wagons 70 ambulances with mules & horses to about one half the wagons & ambulances,” is the way General Humphries began his dispatch.3 He went on to detail that more than two miles of road “is strewed with tents baggage cooking utensils” along with other equipment that had been discarded by the retreating Confederates, and explained that “it will take some time” to clear away all of the debris. Even though his men had given a very good account of themselves during the battle, General Humphries apologized for the fact “that I cannot follow rapidly during the night.” He knew that the enemy was in full retreat and did not want to let up for any reason, even darkness.

General George Meade, commanding the Army of the Potomac, also sent a report that was read by President Lincoln. General Meade was known as the “goddamn goggle-eyed snapping turtle” because of his short temper and sour disposition, but even Meade managed to say something cheerful about the results of yesterday's action. “At daylight this morning I moved the 2d 5 & 6th Corps along the R R in the direction of Amelia C.H.,” he started off, and went on to explain exactly how the many units of the three corps made their advance.⁴ After this exciting beginning, Meade became—for him, at least—nothing short of enthusiastic. He referred to the corps commanders as “distinguished officers,” and went on to pronounce, “it is evident todays works is going to be one of the most important of the recent brilliant operations.” Saving the best for last, General Meade said exactly what President Lincoln and General Grant wanted to hear: “The pursuit will be continued so soon as the men have a little rest.”

The third telegram that Lincoln read was from General Horatio Wright, commander of the veteran Sixth Corps, who gave a detailed account of his experiences at Sayler's Creek. “I proceeded across toward a nearly parallel road on which the Enemy was moving,” he wrote, and “we swept down the road for a distance of about 2 miles.”5 There was also a second attack—“the Enemy had reformed his line on the opposite side where we attacked & drove him to a point a distance of a half mile further.”

The major part of General Wright's lengthy account was a confusing combination of misspelled words and hard to follow phrases. But one particular sentence summed up the battle in a nutshell, plainly and concisely enough for anyone to follow: “The result has been a complete success.”⁶ The report went on to recount that “General Ewell & Curtis Lee & large numbers of other prisoners” were captured, but everything President Lincoln wanted to know was laid out in those seven words. All of the advancing and maneuvering against a heavily resisting enemy had ended in complete success.

President Lincoln probably did not understand every detail of the reports he read, most of which involved troop movements and strategy, and he may not even have read all of the telegrams in their entirety. But all of the telegrams boiled down to one conclusion: General Lee was on the run, General Grant was right behind him, and the end of the war was now only a matter of days away. The last sentence of General Sherman's dispatch made a particular impression: “If the thing is pressed I think Lee will surrender.” At 11:00 a.,., Lincoln sent a telegram to General Grant that has become part of the Lincoln legend:

Head Quarters Armies of the United States,

City-Point, April 7. 11 AM. 1865

Lieut Gen. Grant.

Gen. Sheridan says “If the thing is pressed I think that Lee will surrender.” Let the thing be pressed.

A. LINCOLN⁷

Robert E. Lee was the subject of a good many conversations and discussions during the first week of April, along with the surrender of his army. “It is desirable that Lee should be captured,” Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles wrote.8 Secretary Welles did not have much use for General Lee, an opinion he had in common with many individuals throughout the North.

Welles was afraid that if General Lee managed to escape Grant, he would rally his “brigand force” and carry on a guerilla war in the interior. And Lee was “weak enough to try and continue hostilities,” in Welles's opinion.⁹ His “infidelity to the country which educated, and employed, and paid him shows gross ingratitude,” Welles thought. “His true course would be to desert the country he has betrayed and never return.”

Lincoln was in full agreement with Secretary Welles on this last point. President Lincoln would have had no objections at all if General Lee and every other high-ranking Confederate officer, along with President Jefferson Davis and the entire Confederate government, left the country permanently. If Lee and Davis were to take up permanent residence in Cuba or Canada or somewhere in Europe, they would no longer be in any position to cause more trouble.

But there were many throughout the North who thought that exile was too lenient a punishment for General Lee. They did not want Lee to be banished; they wanted to see him hanged. Lincoln did not approve of this point of view. The very last thing he wanted was to turn Jefferson Davis or Robert E. Lee into martyrs for the Lost Cause. He realized that he would have enough problems in trying to reunify the country without having Confederate martyrs to contend with.

The president expressed this point of view to several guests during a gathering aboard the River Queen, a get together that included Julia Grant, Mary Lincoln, longtime friend Elihu Washburne, the Marquis de Chambrun, and several other friends. Someone brought up the subject of the surrender of General Lee and his army, and also mentioned the possibility that Jefferson Davis and his cabinet might also be captured. President Lincoln was not happy about the second possibility. He pointed out that the “untimely capture” of President Davis would be the cause of “difficulty and embarrassment” for the government—Davis would become a bone of contention between those who favored clemency for the South, including himself, and those who saw Davis as a traitor and wanted vengeance.10

Another of the guests said of Davis, “Don't let him escape. He must be hanged.” President Lincoln's response to this was, “Let us judge not, that we be not judged.”¹¹ Libby Prison was also mentioned—the Confederate prison with all of its horrors should make any attempt at mercy or sympathy toward the South impossible. The president calmly repeated his Biblical quote, which he had also used in his second inaugural address. His goal for reunification was charity for all, including Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee.

Julia Grant was also asked for her opinion on the subject: “What shall be done with the Confederate President Jefferson David in the event of his capture?”¹² Mrs. Grant happened to catch the “friendly glance” of President Lincoln just as the question was being asked. After repeating the question slowly to herself, she very carefully replied, “I would trust him, I think, to the mercy of our always just and most gracious President.” She later recalled that this answer “won me not a few compliments,” and that those present said that it was “a most diplomatic answer.” Mrs. Grant did not mention what the president himself had to say about her response.

Robert E. Lee was also on General Grant's mind, but for a completely different reason. The Confederate forces were still moving westward. General Phil Sheridan was right behind the retreating enemy and had made contact at the town of Farmville, a few miles to the west of Sayler's Creek. General Grant rode into Farmville later in the day, a few hours after the skirmish. General Sheridan sent a communiqué that seven trainloads of rations and provisions, supplies for Lee's army, had stopped at Appomattox, and that he was planning to capture them.

General Grant could see that Lee was running out of time and realized that it would be only a matter of a few days before his army would be completely isolated. If Phil Sheridan could capture the Confederate supply trains at Appomattox Station, Lee's army would be deprived from receiving any rations for some time, perhaps for several days. This, along with the conversation he had had with Dr. Smith the night before, gave General Grant the idea of asking Lee to surrender. He sat down and wrote:

HEADQUARTERS ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATES,

April 7, 1865—5 p. m.

General R. E. LEE,

Commanding C. S. Army:

GENERAL: 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 from myself 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.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

U. S. GRANT,

Lieutenant-General, Commanding Armies of the United States.13

The letter was given to an officer, who rode from Farmville toward the north bank of the Appomattox River with a flag of truce.

General Grant spent the night in a small hotel in Farmville. He slept in the room that, he was told, had been occupied by General Lee the night before. Around midnight, he was awakened by a messenger with a reply from General Lee:

APRIL 7, 1865.

Lieutenant General U. S. GRANT,

Commanding Armies of the United States:

GENERAL: I have received your note of this date. Though not entertaining the opinion you express of the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia, I reciprocate your desire to avoid useless effusion of blood, and therefore, before considering your proposition, ask the terms you will offer on condition of its surrender.

R. E. LEE,

General.14

“That was not satisfactory,” was General Grant's reaction to Lee's reply.¹⁵ But he had not really expected General Lee to surrender on the basis of one letter. Still, he considered General Lee's reply “as deserving another letter,” and decided to send him another surrender request in the morning, after he had a few more hours sleep.

President Lincoln did not know anything about Grant's letter to Lee, or about Lee's reply. The president would be making a return visit to Petersburg that day, and was more than preoccupied with the trip. Mary Lincoln had not seen Petersburg; she had been in Washington when the president made his first visit to the city, and she wanted to visit it before returning to Washington. The president decided to accompany her and her party. Mrs. Lincoln's group would include Tad, Senator Charles Sumner, Elizabeth Keckley, and the Marquis de Chambrun. They would travel by train from City Point, and were on their way by noon.

Julia Grant had not been invited to join the Lincolns on their journey, and was offended by the exclusion. “I saw very little of the presidential party now,” she wrote, “as Mrs. Lincoln had a good deal of company and seemed to have forgotten us.”16 “I felt this deeply and could not understand it,” she said many years later. One possible explanation for Mrs. Grant's exclusion from the president's party was Mary Lincoln's embarrassment—she was still suffering from humiliation over her behavior regarding Mrs. Ord at the end of March. Even though the incident had taken place almost two weeks earlier, the president's wife was probably still too ashamed to face Julia Grant.

The train ride to Petersburg was ordinary and uneventful—entirely too ordinary and uneventful to suit the Marquis de Chambrun. Even though President Lincoln was the focal point of the journey—“we grouped ourselves around him”—the marquis pointed out that the president rode “in an ordinary day-car” along with a few unidentified officers and “several Negro waiters” from the River Queen.¹⁷ This struck the marquis as not only unusual but also improper. In France, such a high-ranking government official would have his own private carriage, which would have been elegantly and lavishly decorated and would have been reserved for himself and members of his family. But President Lincoln rode in an ordinary, plebian “day-coach,” which he deigned to share with officers and Negro waiters—the marquis referred to these passengers as “intruders.” Instead of elegance, Lincoln apparently preferred plainness and simplicity, which the marquis found impossible to fathom.

This fondness for straightforwardness was one of the reasons behind President Lincoln's admiration for General Grant, who preferred to wear a private's simple blouse instead of a general's gold braid and was totally unconcerned with his own appearance. The president shared Grant's fondness for informality and lack of pretention.

President Lincoln had seen Petersburg before; it had not changed since his first visit. Marquis de Chambrun remarked that the city “looks less desolate than Richmond,” and also that the president was “well received” by the local residents.18 Lincoln received word that former US congressman Roger A. Pryor was in Petersburg. Roger Pryor had been a brigadier general in the Confederate army until he resigned his commission, and he was now living in the city. The president made an attempt to visit Pryor at his house; he had arranged for a parole when Pryor had been arrested for suspected espionage at the end of 1864. But Pryor's wife, Sarah, refused to allow Lincoln to see her husband—her reason was that General Lee was still in the field and, as such, her husband could not meet with the head of the opposing army. This was another indication for Lincoln that reunifying North and South was going to be a long and difficult undertaking.

Elizabeth Keckley had gone off on her own when she arrived at Petersburg. She had lived there when she was still a slave, and wanted to revisit some of the places she had known when she was young. But her brief stay only brought back “painful memories.”¹⁹ She had no desire to stay more than a few hours. “I was not sorry to turn my back again upon the city,” she later wrote with a note of finality.

The president, Mrs. Lincoln, and the rest of their party returned to City Point by train later in the day. The Lincolns spent the evening aboard the River Queen, where they were visited by two congressmen, Elihu B. Washburne of Illinois and James G. Blaine of Maine. Both were on their way to see General Grant at Farmville, where they hoped to get their own perspectives on the war and how it was being fought. Congressman Washburne represented Grant's home district of Galena, Illinois, and was also an old friend of the general.

The get together with the Lincolns was friendly and affable; everybody enjoyed themselves and seemed to have a good time talking and telling stories. “Mr. Lincoln was in perfect health and excellent spirits,” Congressman Washburne wrote.20 He regaled his friends with tales of his visit to Richmond, “which had all the quaintness and originality for which he was distinguished,” and kept up a constant stream of anecdotes. Before his guests left, Lincoln asked Congressman Washburne if he would take a letter to his son Robert, who was a member of General Grant's staff. The congressman personally collected the letter from the president on the following morning. “He was erect and buoyant, and it seemed to me I had never seen him look so great and grand.” The time he was spending away from Washington, combined with the encouraging news from the war, was obviously having a beneficial effect on his health and morale.

It had not been a good day for Robert E. Lee. He was still doing his best to get to Danville and, if all went well, from Danville to General Joseph Johnston's army in North Carolina. But because the enemy was in possession of most of the railway lines in the vicinity, General Lee decided that it would be best to go to Danville by a longer, more indirect route. His plan was to meet a supply train filled with rations at Appomattox Station, give his men their first meal in five days, and keep moving westward.

Grant's army was still on the south side of the Appomattox River; the Army of Northern Virginia occupied the north side. The river in between was deep enough and wide enough to keep the Union army at bay, to stop it from making a crossing. This should allow General Lee's men enough time to catch their breath and put some distance between themselves and Grant's pursuing army. Two bridges connected the north bank and the south bank, but General Lee ordered both of them to be destroyed. Grant's engineers might build a pontoon bridge across the Appomattox, but the time spent in building a bridge would allow the Confederates to keep moving toward Danville without interference from the Union army.

During the afternoon of April 7, General Lee received word that enemy troops had crossed the Appomattox in force, and were now on the north side of the river. Only one of the two bridges across the river had been destroyed, which allowed an entire Federal division to cross over to the north bank. An attempt to recapture the bridge had been beaten back.

When he received the report, General Lee lost control of himself and indulged in a monumental temper tantrum. He was fully aware that the escape of his army was now in jeopardy because one of his officers had failed to carry out orders, and he could also see that this failure might turn out to be fatal. After regaining his composure, the general ordered artillery to be brought up in case the enemy mounted an attack.

Sometime after receiving this report, a messenger rode up with General Grant's letter asking him to surrender. General James Longstreet was sitting next to Lee when the letter was delivered. Lee read the note and handed it over to Longstreet without saying anything. The general read the letter and handed it back to Lee with a two-word response: “Not yet.”21