"General Lee?"

It was Walter Taylor standing in the doorway of the vestry that Lee now used as his headquarters.

Walter knew he had been asleep for several hours, and Lee, a bit embarrassed, stirred and sat up. "Yes, Walter."

"Sir, a messenger just came from General Grant. He requests that you meet him back at the chapel, you and Secretary Benjamin."

"I'm coming."

Lee stood up, brushed himself off, and almost picked up his saber and side arm to snap on, then left them in place. Outside the church Traveler was waiting, Benjamin already mounted.

The two rode off together, Walter and a dozen cavalry troopers providing escort.

The encampment area was quiet, as it had been throughout the day. The men were so exhausted that the shock of what had transpired this day had caused a complete collapse. Men had simply lain down in the fields and gone to sleep. With the coming of evening a few managed to get fires going, but there was little to cook until something absolutely remarkable happened.

At first it was just one or two, then a few dozen, and then by the hundreds; Yankees had crossed the field, drifting into the camps, shyly pulling out a few pieces of hardtack, a tattered bag filled with coffee, a little bit of salt pork or a chicken snatched from some farmyard. They sat peacefully together, chatting away, comparing notes of who had fought where. Officers were doing it, too, especially the West Pointers, seeking out classmates and comrades from so long ago.

As Lee's party approached the chapel, Grant was leaning against the doorway, smoking a cigar, and he stood up formally as Lee dismounted. The two stood silently for a moment, neither quite sure of protocol, and finally Lee offered a salute, which Grant returned.

"Sir, I felt we should talk," Grant said and he motioned Lee to the door, then looked back at Judah Benjamin. "Just the four of us. The secretary of war waits inside."

The table in the room was set about with four chairs, a coal oil lamp in the middle and a few candles by the altar shedding the only light. Souvenir hunters had been busy throughout the day in the abandoned chapel. It was reported Phil Sheridan had snatched the table the surrender had been signed on, while others had hauled out pews, even a couple of the stained-glass windows. The table between them now was a rough-hewn affair, carried over from Grant's headquarters, as was the lantern and candles.

A pot of coffee, still warm, was on the floor, and Elihu produced four tin cups and poured the drinks as the small group sat down.

"I think we need to talk," Grant said, opening now without any nervous preamble.

"I agree, sir. And again my thanks for the generosity shown to my men this day."

Grant unconsciously let his hand drift to his breast pocket, which contained the missive from Lincoln: "Let them down easy," had been written not once, but twice, in his directives not only to negotiate the surrender of Lee but to discuss broader issues as well.

"General Lee," Grant continued, "I realize there is a difference in our ranks. I command all of the armed forces of the United States of America now in the field, while you but command the Army of Northern Virginia."

"Yes, that is true."

"But I would like to enter into negotiations to end all fighting, to end this war. The president in a memo sent to me yesterday reaffirmed my authority to do so in a military sense, and he asks if you would consider such a proposition."

Lee sat back and shook his head.

"General Grant, I have no authority to do so. You are right, I command the Army of Northern Virginia, which has laid down its arms this day. As for the other armies in the field, I have absolutely no authority to speak for them."

"As I knew you would reply," Grant said.

"Then why ask?"

"Sir, I think I should explain a few things that now confront us both." "Go on."

"As I told you this morning, you and all your men will be paroled home. I offer as well to you my personal pledge that, once home, no one will bother or molest you or your men. The president made that clear in his memo to me. As far as he is concerned, your war is over, or should I say, our war against you; Obey the laws of the United States of America, and nothing more will be done to any of you."

"And as I said before, that is most generous."

"And yet the war continues."

"I have no control over that."

"I think you do, sir."

Lee shook his head and remained silent., "I shall share with you the rest of the memo sent by the president."

He looked over at Elihu, who nodded in agreement.

"We are to help you and your men return to Virginia. Even now my engineers are completing a bridge at Edwards Ferry. You can march out, once disarmed, and stack your colors before crossing the river. I suggest you then take your troops to Richmond and there disband them."

He took a deep breath.

"The day after you return to Virginia, I will move my army across the Potomac as well, but advance no farther than the Rappahannock River, occupying the positions held by our armies prior to the Chancellorsville campaign. This I do as a military necessity to shield Washington, but also to position myself for an advance on Richmond."

Lee nodded, looking straight at Grant.

"And then?"

"Sir, if the Confederate government does not seek a general armistice leading to their disbandment at the end of thirty days, I am ordered to drive straight on Richmond. I will also detach one corps to occupy Shenandoah Valley and, if need be, destroy any material of military worth."

"Please, sir, define military worth?" Lee asked.

"The fall harvest, all barns, railroads, everything clear down the valley to Tennessee. I will do the same as I advance toward Richmond."

"I see," Lee replied, shaking his head. "A new kind of war, isn't it, General Grant?"

"A kind of war that will become necessary if your goveminent does not see reality and disband. I will regret it, sir, but I will order it without hesitation.

"We do not need to play any bluff games with each other, General Lee. You have absolutely no forces left in Virginia, other than some militia. Once I start this next campaign I shall be in Richmond within the week.

"I regret to say this, but I am ordered to carry my campaign forward with full and absolute vigor. That means my army will live off the land as we advance. We will cut a swath fifty miles wide and destroy everything in our path."

Lee sighed.

"General Grant, so far, this war has been fought with a certain degree of civility, with respect to the property rights of civilians."

"That is war, this new kind of war," Grant replied, and there was a sharpness to his voice. "I do not like it any more than you do. It is the prayerful wish of our president that the terms of surrender granted here today will send a positive message across the South. We want peace, we wish it as much as you, and we can have it with honor. But if there are some who wish to continue the fight, then utter devastation will be the result.

"I am not sure that you heard the news from Atlanta today," Grant said.

"No, sir."

"Sherman has soundly defeated Bragg again, near Kennesaw Mountain. We received word that your president is finally relieving Bragg and replacing him with Joe Johnston, but it is too little too late. Sherman declares that his armies will start the bombardment of Atlanta within days; in fact, he is holding back until I authorize him to do so. He believes he can take the city in a matter of days.

"If your resistance continues, he has already suggested the plan to burn Atlanta to the ground, tear up the railroads, and then march from there straight to Savannah, again living off the land, destroying most of Georgia in the process."