themselves and without incurring the risk of political complications. It is thought that a proper course on the part of the United States would accomplish this result. An army which is well appointed and supplied, not immediately threatened, and with its communications open, cannot afford to surrender as prisoners of war. They must first be placed in such a position that their capture is a necessity. The demand to surrender, under present circumstances, is not deemed reasonable, and it is not in accordance with the laws which custom has made binding among nations and military men. The effect of such a demand is to leave an impression that there is a wish on the part of the victorious Government not to pacify the country and lead to a restoration of former relations, but to humiliahave contended gallantly in behalf of principles which they believe to be right. It is though that correct views of statesmanship would induce propositions on the part of the United States which, while it saved the honor to the Confederate Army, would also lead to the speedy pacification of the Trans-Mississippi Department. It is the determination of the military authorities not to submit to ignominious terms; it is their wish also to hasten the pacification of the country by every means consistent with their honor. The following propositions are of a character so reasonable under the circumstances that it is difficult to conceive of any objection being urged to them:

First. The U. S. authorities to grant immunity from prosecution for past acts to all officers and soldiers and citizens in the Trans-Mississippi Department.

Second. On the granting of this immunity all military resistance to the United States Government to cease.

Third. The Confederate Army to be disbanded and its officers and soldiers be permitted to return to their homes, transportation to be furnished them as far as practicable.

Fourth. Such officers and soldiers as choose will be permitted, without molestation, to leave the country, with or without their arms, in a reasonable time.

Fifth. The same permission to be granted to citizens.

Many examples of history teach that the more generous the terms proposed by a victorious enemy the greater is the certainty of a speedy and lasting pacification, and that the imposition of harsh terms leads invariably to subsequent disturbances. The propositions above mentioned contain terms which the Trans-Mississippi Department can rightly claim and the United States Government can justly concede.

E. KIRBY SMITH.

ADDENDA. *

HOUSTON, TEX., May 30, 1865.

Colonel JOHN T. SPRAGUE, U. S. Army:

COLONEL: When I gave you, at Shreveport, a memorandum which I hoped might be the basis of negotiations with the United States Government, I commended an army of over 50,000 men and a department rich in resources. I am now without either. The army in Texas disbanded before my arrival here. From one extremity of the department to the other the troops, with unexampled unanimity of action, have dissolved all military organization, seized the public property, and scat-

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*For correspondence between Major General E. R. S. Canby, U. S. Army, and General E. Kirby Smith, C. S. Army, relative to the surrender of the Confederate forces in the Trans-Mississippi Department, see Part II.

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13 R R-VOL XLVIII, PT I