After Robert E. Lee's surrender to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox:
Once Lee was out of earshot, the Union army surrendered to jubilation. In marked contrast to Grant, George Meade went wild with exultation, galloping hatless through his camp, shouting wildly, "It's all over, boys! Lee's surrendered! It's all over!" Everything not nailed down was twirled in the air. Such a celebration was anathema to Grant, who stopped his artillery from firing a hundred-gun salute. After the war, afraid that the North would seem to be bragging about the South's defeat, he even objected to a painting being placed at the Capitol that depicted Lee's surrender. He now reminded his army that the rebels had been restored as their countrymen. Thanks to this, the unseemly rejoicing was stopped, replaced by stunned silence.
From "Grant." ©2017 by Ron Chernow. Excerpted by permission of Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
