th Carolina, opposition
to the Confederate authorities had been carried so far that such a
proposal was regarded with approval. The Rhett party in South Carolina
and the Joseph E. Brown following in Georgia were all ready to follow
Stephens. A large section of public opinion had in fact been prepared in
all these States for such a plan. A committee of Congress was formed and
William C. Rives was sent to General Lee to inquire if he would take
charge of the affairs of the Confederacy as sole dictator. Lee declined
the dubious honor, and Congress, not knowing what else to do, undertook
in early January, 1865, to carry out the recommendations of the
President.

By the end of December, 1864, General Sherman had captured Savannah, and
was ready to begin his march northward to support Grant. On the
suggestion of Montgomery Blair, father of Postmaster-General Blair, a
conference was arranged with the Federal authorities, to take place on a
United States steamer in Hampton Roads. Lincoln and Seward thus met, on
February 3, Alexander Stephens, former United States Judge Campbell, and
Senator R. M. T. Hunter, all identified with the Confederate peace
party. Satisfactory terms could not be agreed upon and the renewal of
the conflict was ordered. As the commissioners passed through the lines,
the news of their failure was conveyed to both armies, and these brave
soldiers of many campaigns, having long since learned to respect each
other, wept aloud. The failure of these negotiations confirmed Davis in
his position and he now made one more appeal to the people of the South
to save their cause by a popular uprising. Stephens and the rest lent
their support to the call; but it was all in vain, for the sands of the
Confederacy were almost run. General Sherman with 60,000 men was
marching through South Carolina. Columbia was laid in ashes on the night
of February 17, and the naked chimneys of the cotton belt from Atlanta
to middle South Carolina marked the course of the Federal army. The
people of North Carolina trembled at the approach of the victorious
enemy. Joseph E. Johnston was finally restored to the command of the
remnants of his former army and the local militia which undertook to
delay the progress of the Federal forces. Well-to-do families fled to
places of refuge; horses and cattle were driven to the best
hiding-places that could be found; the silver plate and the little gold
that remained among the people were buried under