William T. Sherman,
First Agreement with Joseph E. Johnston,
18 April 1865
Memorandum, or Basis of Agreement, made this 18th
day of April, A.D. 1865, near Durham's Station, in the State of North Carolina,
by and between General JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON, commanding the Confederate Army,
and Major-General WILLIAM T. SHERMAN, commanding the Army of the United
States in North Carolina, both present:
1. The contending armies now in the field
to maintain the statu quo until notice is given by the commanding
general of any one to its opponent, and reasonable time -- say, forty-eight
hours -- allowed.
2. The Confederate armies now in existence
to be disbanded and conducted to their several State capitals, there to
deposit their arms and public property in the State Arsenal; and each officer
and man to execute and file an agreement to cease from acts of war, and
to abide the action of the state and Federal authority. The number
of arms and munitions of war to be reported to the Chief of Ordnance at
Washington City, subject to the future action of the Congress of the United
States, and, in the mean time, to be used solely to maintain peace and
order within the borders of the States respectively.
3. The recognition, by the Executive of
the United States, of the several State governments, on their officers
and Legislatures taking the oaths prescribed by the Constitution of the
United States, and, where conflicting State governments have resulted from
the war, the legitimacy of all shall be submitted to the Supreme Court
of the United States.
4. The re-establishment of all the Federal
Courts in the several States, with powers as defined by the constitution
of the United States and of the States respectively.
5. The people and inhabitants of all the
States to be guaranteed, so far as the Executive can, their political rights
and franchises, as well as their rights of person and property, as defined
by the Constitution of the United States and of the States respectively.
6. The Executive authority of the Government
of the United States not to disturb any of the people by reason of the
late war, so long as they live in peace and quiet, abstain from acts of
armed hostility, and obey the laws in existence at the place of their residence.
7. In general terms -- the war to cease;
a general amnesty, so far as the Executive of the United States can command,
on condition of the disbandment of the Confederate armies, the distribution
of the arms, and the resumption of peaceful pursuits by the officers and
men hitherto composing said armies.
Not being fully empowered by our respective principals
to fulfill these terms, we individually and officially pledge ourselves
to promptly obtain the necessary authority, and to carry out the above
programme.
W. T. Sherman, Major-General,
Commanding Army of the United States in North
Carolina.
J. E. Johnston, General,
Commanding Confederate States Army in North Carolina.
SOURCE: Reprinted in William Tecumseh Sherman,
Memoirs of General William T. Sherman, vol. 2 (New York, 1875),
pages 884-845.
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