Raleigh,
April 19, 1865.
Joe Johnston
surrendered the whole thing yesterday to Sherman. Our 4th division and a
division of the 17th Corps receive the arms, etc. We go into a regular camp
tomorrow to await developments. If any more Confederacy crops out, we, I
suppose, will go for it, otherwise in a couple of months we'll muster out.
That's all. Good bye, war.
SOURCE: Charles Wright Wills, Army Life of an Illinois Soldier, p. 372
Raleigh,
April 17, 1865.
We have a
brief dispatch this morning informing us of the assassination of President
Lincoln, Secretary Seward and son. I have not the heart to write a word about
it. The army is crazy for vengenance. If we make another campaign it will be an
awful one. Sherman meets Johnston to-day. The delay in the negotiations was
caused by some dispatches being missed. We hope Johnston will not surrender.
God pity this country if he retreats or fights us.
