JANUARY
28, 1865:
Robert E.
Lee writes angrily to the Confederate Quartermaster and Commissary Corps,
lambasting them for their failure to provide adequate food, clothing, and other
supplies to the Confederate Army. Desertions are at unprecedented levels. The
men who remain are in rags and are dying of malnutrition. Scurvy, Pellagra,
Beri-beri, and a host of diseases brought on by failing immune systems are
consuming the remaining Confederate soldiers in The Army of Northern Virginia
like a brushfire.
General
Sherman’s forces, which have been bogged down in Savannah due to inclement
weather, begin to move in force into South Carolina. Robert E. Lee writes to
the Governor of South Carolina, saying that “the Confederacy is safe”, as long
as the civilian population does not lose heart. As Sherman’s men pour into the
Palmetto State, Confederate forces throw down their arms.
Having
heard out Preston Blair, Jefferson Davis appoints three Peace Commissioners to
meet with Union representatives in an attempt to end the war. Confederate Vice-President
Stephens, Confederate President of the Senate, R.M.T. Hunter and former U.S. Supreme
Court judge John Campbell are selected for this errand. Davis and Stephens
despise each other (Davis believes Stephens to be a Unionist), and Hunter and
Davis despise each other (Hunter considers Davis too moderate), while Campbell
is an old friend of Lincoln’s. Davis clearly has no hopes of a negotiated peace
and intends it to fail. Having been
appointed, the three men set out for Washington D.C.
