On Thursday, March 2, 1865 General Robert E. Lee wrote a letter which was conveyed to Union General Ulysses Grant, proposing a meeting to try to arrive “at a satisfactory adjustment of the present unhappy difficulties by means of a military convention….” On the following day Grant replied he had no authority to hold such a conference and felt that there had been some misunderstanding or miscommunication between Washington and Richmond over the issue of peace. But the very fact that his chief opponent had broached the subject of peace--and especially a peace without insistence that Southern independence be assured-- must have convinced Grant that the South was on the brink of capitulation and that he needed to apply increasing pressure on the armies of the Confederacy.
00000174-b11b-ddc3-a1fc-bfdbb1a20000The Schreiner University Department of History is honoring the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War with a series of short vignettes focusing on events from 1861 through 1865. The Civil War was the most destructive conflict in American history, but it was also one of our most defining moments as a people and as a nation. Let us know what you think about "This Week in the Civil War." E-mail your comments to Dr. John Huddleston at jhuddles@schreiner.edu.Airs: Weekdays at 5:19 a.m., 8:19 a.m., 4:19 p.m. on KTXI and 4:49 a.m., 9:29 p.m. on KSTX.