Joseph E. Johnston Surrenders to William T. Sherman

On April 26, 1865 CSA General Joseph E. Johnston officially surrendered his Confederate Army of Tennessee to US Major General William T. Sherman at Durham Station, North Carolina.  This official surrender followed an armistice that was signed by Johnston on April 18.  The orginal surrender was not accepted by the recently inaugurated president, Andrew Johnson, because it included terms that were political in nature which had not been authorized by the Federal government.  Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant would travel to North Carolina and counsel Sherman on the final surrender – one which only dealt with the military capitulation of the Army of Tennessee.  Grant, not wanting to embarrass his friend, allowed Sherman to provide the terms and accept Johnston’s surrender.

The surrender of the Army of Tennessee extinguished any hope of Confederate independence.  While additional Confederate armies were still active in the Western Theater, Johnston’s Army of Tennessee was the last large organized fighting force.  This army saw bloody action at some of the most brutal battles in the west: Stones River, Chickamauga, Chattanooga (Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain), the Atlanta Campaign, Franklin, Nashville and the Carolinas Campaign.  It would have several commanders: Braxton Bragg, Joe Johnston and John Bell Hood.  The battles of Franklin and Nashville would decimate the proud army.  While losing more battles than it won, it was not so much due to the fighting elan of the men, but rather poor decisions made by its commanders.  Many of the most celebrated general officers of the Confederacy held important commands in this army including Patrick Cleburne, Nathan Bedford Forrest, James Longstreet, Stephen D. Lee and Alexander P. Stewart.