On this Day in History (The Civil War):
On this day in 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant in Appomattox Court House, Virginia, thus ending the Civil War. The Writer’s Almanac today had a lovely little write-up of the event.
After it was over, Grant said, “[I felt] sad and depressed at the downfall of a foe who had fought so long and valiantly and had suffered so much for a cause, though that cause was, I believe, the worst for which people ever fought.” When the Union soldiers began to cheer and celebrate, Grant ordered them to be silent out of respect.
Lee rode back to his camp, and crowds of Confederate soldiers along the road began to weep as he passed. When he reached his tent, Lee said to the crowd, “Go home now, and if you make as good citizens as you have soldiers, you will do well, and I shall always be proud of you. Goodbye, and God bless you all.”
Does this kind of respect for an enemy in battle even exist anymore? If no, isn’t this a sign of backsliding rather than progress?