"The Last Salute of the Army of Northern Virginia" Topic

"It is an astounding fact that among the thousands of official documents bearing upon the Civil war in the National Archives at Washington there is absolutely nothing dealing with one of the most dramatic features of the great four years' internal struggle--the actual ceremonies attendant upon the formal surrender by General Lee's army of all Confederate property in their possession at Appomattox Courthouse thirty-six years ago.

When General Lee surrendered to General Grant, April 9th, 1865, the war was virtually over, but of the details of the surrender, the pathetic sadness on the one side, the jubilant satisfaction on the other, and, more particularly of the precise arrangements, the mode of procedure and the Northern army officer whose duty it became to take charge of the rebel arms and the rebel battleflags as they were given up--of all this our official war records tell not a word…"
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Amicalement
Armand

Chamberlain's account of the surrender has puzzled Civil War reenactors for years. "Carry Arms" is a position used in Winfield Scott's tactics manual and has the soldier carrying the rifle on his left shoulder with the butt in his left hand, arm fully extended down at his side. But by 1865 very few Union soldiers would have ever used Scott's. The manual used by most was Casey's and Casey did not use Carry Arms. Instead the command was "Shoulder Arms" which has the rifle in the right hand as described in the linked article above. So Chamberlain's description is puzzling. My personal theory is that he wrote this description well after the event and later in the 19th Century the drill manuals had changed so that what had once been called Shoulder Arms was now called Carry Arms. Perhaps Chamberlain just wanted to use the current term for the position. Or maybe he was just confused :)

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Amicalement
Armand

Reading of General Chamberlain's salute to the surrendering Rebels has never failed to bring tears to my eyes. A gallant gesture by a great man who recognized the bravery and determination of the men he fought against, his once and future countrymen. Men like him are the reason the war did not degenerate into a bitter guerilla war.