Recognizing Reconciliation after the Civil War

Last year I gave a talk at church on reconciliation – something that seems timely right now. There is much lip service to it, how much more is needed, and sometimes too little recognition of the efforts made. Some of our most sacred memorials have been defaced, including even to the president and some soldiers who freed the slaves. In my talk are examples of reconciliation offered by that president and one amazing officer. We can learn from history -- read on.

“As I pondered examples of reconciliation, I was impressed by two magnanimous and profound conciliatory gestures by great men in our national reconciliation at the close of the Civil War. On one wall of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. is etched Lincoln’s 2nd inaugural speech, given just a few weeks before the end of the great and terrible Civil War. It had taken 620,000 lives (2% of the population, and more than all our combined foreign wars until Vietnam) and was marveled at across the world. In the address he quotes scripture:

The Almighty has His own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh."

…so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."

“He clearly advocated a merciful, conciliatory and not harsh treatment of the defeated South:

“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.[7]

“And although the process of reconciliation was prolonged by Lincoln’s untimely death, eventually it was achieved.

“Weeks after his speech, the Union hero of Little Roundtop at Gettysburg, Colonel -- then Maj. General -- Joshua Chamberlain [played by Jeff Daniels in the great movie, Gettysburg -- I'm stirred every 4th of July when I watch it by the charge he led that was pivotal in the most pivotal battle of the war], was approached by a Confederate staff officer of General Gordon, under a flag of truce, informing him of Lee’s desire to surrender. “The next day, Chamberlain was summoned to Union headquarters where Maj. Gen. Charles Griffin informed him that he had been selected to preside over the parade of the Confederate infantry as part of their formal surrender at Appomattox Court House on April 12.[13]

“Thus Chamberlain was responsible for one of the most poignant scenes of the American Civil War. As the Confederate soldiers marched down the road to surrender their arms and colors, Chamberlain, on his own initiative, ordered his men to come to attention and "carry arms" as a show of respect. In memoirs written forty years after the event, Chamberlain described what happened next:

“Gordon, at the head of the marching column, outdoes us in courtesy. He was riding with downcast eyes and more than pensive look; but at this clatter of arms he raises his eyes and instantly catching the significance, wheels his horse with that superb grace of which he is master, drops the point of his sword to his stirrup, gives a command, at which the great Confederate ensign following him is dipped and his decimated brigades, as they reach our right, respond to the 'carry,' honor answering honor. All the while on our part not a sound of trumpet or drum, not a cheer, nor a word nor motion of man, but awful stillness as if it were the passing of the dead.[14]”

“Remember that these men had been in mortal combat with one another just days before. Chamberlain stated that his salute to the Confederate soldiers was unpopular with many Unionists, but he defended his action in his memoirs, The Passing of the Armies. Many years later, Gordon, in his own memoirs, called Chamberlain "one of the knightliest soldiers of the Federal Army."

“What touching gestures of reconciliation and respect in victory and defeat, at the end of such a long and bitter war!

“Then I realized how conciliatory America has been after being victor in many of its wars – with the British after 2 wars for independence, the Germans after WWI and WWII, the Japanese after WWII, Iraq after 2 wars, and even Vietnam. They are now some of our closest allies and trading partners who we’ve helped rebuild. We’ve believed that it makes more sense, and is the right thing to do, to make friends and amends rather than harbor a grudge and exact vengeance.”

Abraham Lincoln (/ˈlɪŋkən/;[2] February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American statesman and lawyer who served as the 16th president of the United States (1861–1865). Lincoln led the nation through its greatest moral, constitutional, and political crisis in the American Civil War. He preserved the Union, abolished slavery, strengthened the federal government, and modernized the U.S. economy. [Wikipedia]

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (born Lawrence Joshua Chamberlain, September 8, 1828 – February 24, 1914)[3] was an American college professor from Maine who volunteered during the American Civil War to join the Union Army. He became a highly respected and decorated Union officer, reaching the rank of brigadier general (and brevet major general). He is best known for his gallantry at the Battle of Gettysburg, for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor. Following the war, he served as Governor of Maine, and the President of Bowdoin College. [from Wikipedia] I also have a photo of his statue at Bowdoin College in Maine.

No photos exist of that fateful surrender in 1865 which changed the course of events of our fledgling country, but the artist Don Troiani recreated the scene. The mounted officer depicted on the right is Major General Joshua Chamberlain who was directed by Union General Grant to preside over an official Confederate surrender of arms and colors. [from https://treehouseletter.com/2016/11/17/the-last-salute-surrender-with-dignity-on-battles-elections-life/]

My own photo of the Lincoln memorial on February 16, 2009 (4 days after his birthday), on a business trip, taking a night tour of the memorials

Statue of Col. Joshua Chamberlain in front of Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, where he served as president. Photo taken Dec. 27, 2012 on a Christmas visit to my sister's family in Massachusetts.

The reconstructed McLean House where the surrender was signed by Lee & Grant, & the lane along which the surrender procession took place, leading to the court house a hundred yards in the other direction. Photo by myself, July 2013. 

Another poignant show of respect, emotion & conciliation at the surrender at Appomattox. Photo taken by myself touring after the 2013 National Scout Jamboree in West Virginia.