Richmond has
fallen! The flag of the Union waves in triumph over the rebel Capitol! The news
reached the War Department about 11 o'clock this forenoon, and such a scene of
rejoicing and shouting and general jubilee I have never before seen. Old men
acted like boys, and young men are half crazed with delight. The first
intimation we had of it in our office was from a wild hurrah from the next
floor below, on which is Secretary Stanton's room, and within five minutes at
least a thousand men were gathered about the west door, and shouting and
shrieking in their wild delight. Every office was abandoned; the clerks
determined to take a holiday, and the Secretary of War soon after issued orders
to close all the offices. Speeches were made by Secretary Stanton, Vice-President
Johnson, Gen. Nye, and others. Salutes were fired all about the city, and not
less than five hundred guns spoke in echoing thunder of the glorious victory.
Great preparations are being made for a grand illumination. The latest reports
say that we have taken 25,000 prisoners, and that the capture of Lee's entire
army seems certain.
SOURCE: Corydon Eustathius Fuller, Reminiscences of
James A. Garfield: With Notes Preliminary and Collateral, p. 376
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