3 February 1865 A.D. President Lincoln Meets a Delegation of
Confederate Officials to Discuss Possible Peace Agreement
Editors. “1865
– President Lincoln meets with a
delegation of Confederate officials to discuss a possible peace agreement.”
This Day in U.S. Military History. N.d. https://thisdayinusmilhist.wordpress.com/2014/02/03/february-3/. Accessed 2 Feb 2015.
1865 – President Lincoln meets with a delegation of
Confederate officials to discuss a possible peace agreement. Lincoln
refuses to grant the delegation any concessions, and the president departs for
the north. New York Tribune editor and abolitionist Horace Greeley provided the
impetus for the conference when he contacted Francis Blair, a Maryland
aristocrat and presidential adviser. Greeley suggested that Blair was the
“right man” to open discussions with the Confederates to end the war. Blair
sought permission from Lincoln to meet with Confederate President Jefferson
Davis, and he did so twice in January 1865. Blair suggested to Davis that an
armistice be forged and the two sides turn their attention to removing the
French-supported regime of Maximilian in Mexico. This plan would help cool
tensions between North and South by providing a common enemy, he believed.
Meanwhile, the situation was becoming progressively worse for the Confederates
in the winter of 1864 and 1865. In January, Union troops captured Fort Fisher and
effectively closed Wilmington, North Carolina, the last major port open to
blockade runners. Davis conferred with his vice president, Alexander Stephens,
and Stephens recommended that a peace commission be appointed to explore a
possible armistice. Davis sent Stephens and two others to meet with Lincoln at
Hampton Roads, Virginia. The meeting convened on February 3. Stephens asked if
there was any way to stop the war and Lincoln replied that the only way was
“for those who were resisting the laws of the Union to cease that resistance.”
The delegation underestimated Lincoln’s resolve to make the end of slavery a
necessary condition for any peace. The president also insisted on immediate
reunification and the laying down of Confederate arms before anything else was
discussed. In short, the Union was in such an advantageous position that
Lincoln did not need to concede any issues to the Confederates. Robert M.T.
Hunter, one of the delegation, commented that Lincoln was offering little
except the unconditional surrender of the South. After less than five hours,
the conference ended and the delegation left with no concessions. The war
continued for more than two months.
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