Chronological History of the American Civil War

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Wednesday, April 26, 1865 : Twelve days after the shooting of the President of the U.S., soldiers surround the Garrett barn in the early morning hours. Conspirator, David Herold surrenders, but assassin, John Wilkes Booth refuses, and troops light the barn on fire. Booth is shot in the neck. He is shot, probably by a federal trooper, but possibly by his own hand. Booth dies at sunrise. Confederate cabinet members meet in Charlotte, North Carolina and plan to flee across the Mississippi. Confederate Attorney General, George Davis returns

home instead. Agreeing to the same terms as Lee, General Johnston surrenders the Army of Tennessee, (CSA) and all remaining Confederate forces still active in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida – it is the largest surrender of the war (89,270 soldiers). Sherman even provides Johnston’s men with 10 days of food rations and transportation to their homes. P. G. T. Beauregard (CSA) surrenders at Durham Station, North Carolina. Although, President Jefferson Davis (CSA) is firmly set against surrender, and many commanders, (including Forrest in Alabama and Kirby-Smith in Texas) still know nothing of either surrender, the loss of both Lee’s and Johnston’s armies – their largest remaining forces – essentially means that the Civil War has ended. Thursday, April 27, 1865 : In Bolivar, Tennessee, 17 year old Sally Wendel Fentress comments in her journal on the Lincoln assassination: “Saw a paper this evening continuing a letter from John Wilkes Booth in which, he intimated his intention of doing some desperate act in revenge for the tyranny, practiced upon the people of the South. His name should be written on the highest pinnacle of fame for that one deed. He has sacrificed more than any of his contemporaries, sacrificed his profession, which brought him twenty thousand a year, home, friends, family, all for ridding the world of the most consummate villain under the sun.” The steamboat Sultana , transporting former Union soldiers (prisoners of war - POWs) back North to their homes, exploded this evening and sank near Memphis, Tennessee on the Mississippi River. A later investigation will show, that the grossly overcrowded ship might have been sabotaged. The exact death toll is unknown, although the most recent evidence indicates more than 1,700 died, almost 200 more than the 1,512 deaths attributed to the U.S.S. Titanic disaster in the North Atlantic 47 years later. This news escaped the public's attention, while the death of President Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth filled the papers. By this time in our country's history, sadly we are used to reading about thousands of our countrymen dying every day. Confederate Treasury Secretary of, George Trenholm resigns as John H. Reagan takes his place. The body of Booth is autopsied and positively identified on the U.S.S. Montauk . He is later interred at the Washington Artillery. In Washington, D.C. the other conspirators, including David E. Herold are imprisoned on a boat. Friday, April 28, 1865 : President Abraham Lincoln’s funeral train arrives in Cleveland, Ohio, where over 50,000 mourners view his coffin. Jefferson Davis continues to move further away from Federal forces.