U.S. Grant from April 15 -26, 1865

[loetar44]

(11-24-2014 07:41 PM)L Verge Wrote:  It appears that Genl. Grant concentrated on his military duties and not on the search for the assassin.

There was shortly after the death of Lincoln a lot more to do than to search for the assassin(s) and to unravel a plot. Yes, the war came to an end, but was certainly not over. It was in April / May 1865 Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant who was in Washington attempting to put a definitive end to it. Two sizable Confederate armies surrendered during May 1865: one under Lieutenant General Richard Taylor, commanding the Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana, the other under Lieutenant General Edmund Kirby Smith, commanding the Trans-Mississippi Department. Jefferson Davis was captured (and the remnants of his government). In May President Johnson issued an amnesty proclamation and Grant joined in all the sentiments, believing that amnesty for Robert E. Lee "would have the best possible effect towards restoring good feeling and peace in the South." That was also his responsibility. And don’t forget that Grant as overall commander faced the problems of mustering out the volunteer forces and reorganizing the regular army for peacetime duties. However, he needed to retain troops in the South to maintain order and to protect the rights of freedmen. And he sent a large military force to the Mexican border to put pressure on the government of Emperor Maximilian, installed as a puppet of Napoleon III of France, who wanted to build an empire in North America. And there was still an Indian frontier. Grant had too much major military responsibilities, he simply had no time to go “hunting assassins”. His job as overall commander was a herculean job.

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(11-24-2014 09:27 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  Glad you are better, Laurie, and you haven't vanished, Kees! Thanks for adding this great info. In the table of contents of "Ulysses S. Grant: Memoirs and Selected Letters", I found listed the following letters written by Grant during these days:
To Julia Dent Grant, April 16, 1865
To Edward O. C. Ord, April 17, 1865
To William T. Sherman, April 21, 1865
To Julia Dent Grant, April 21, 1865
To Julia Dent Grant, April 25, 1865.

Eva, as a matter of fact Grant wrote in the period April 15 – May 1 al lot more letters: 40 in total , all concerning military matters. He wrote to his Ltn. Generals Halleck, Ord, Sheridan, Pope, Canby, Thomas, Meade, Hancock, Augur, Wallace, Sherman, Dana and Reynolds. He wrote to Mr. Ford, Mr. Hudson and Secretary Stanton (4 times) and he wrote to his wife, not 3 times, but 5 times: on April 16, 20, 21, 25 and 29. If you want to read the letters to Julia, I’ve uploaded a transcript of those 5 letters to my box cloud, just click:

https://app.box.com/s/oe7tnllmm3wtcz0hknto

BTW: On April 29, 1865, George H. Stuart, from Philadelphia, wrote to Julia Dent Grant. "It gives me great pleasure to inform you that after unlooked for delays, the dwelling presented to your honored husband on the 2nd January last, is now ready for your occupancy. The Committee will be most happy to have you take possession of the house No 2009 Chestnut St on Monday next May 1st, or on such other day as may be most convenient. We shall be pleased to have you communicate to Mr Knight the bearer of this note at what time you propose leaving for our City." When Grant left Washington D.C on May 1, he went via Burlington to Philadelphia and was from May 2 until May 5 at this Philadelphia home.

If you want to read all letters Grant wrote from 1887 (31 volumes !)until his death in 1895 you can visit the Mississippi State University site and download digital versions at:

http://libguides.css.edu/usgrant/home/usgrant/research

You can also download here the complete chronology. I think it's the same as in Anita's link.