Sherman Receives News of Lee's Surrender in Smithfield - Smithfield NC
Posted by: 
Don.Morfe
N 35° 30.685 W 078° 20.823
17S E 740598 N 3932996
In the early morning hours of April 12, 1865, two Union officers arrived here and delivered a telegram from General Ulysses S. Grant to General William T. Sherman, who was quartered in the Old Johnston County Courthouse.
Waymark Code: WM138H8
Location: North Carolina, United States
Date Posted: 10/11/2020
Views: 1
Sherman Receives News of Lee's Surrender in Smithfield-Johnston County Courthouse— 1843 1921 —In the early morning hours of April 12, 1865, two Union officers arrived here and delivered a telegram from General Ulysses S. Grant to General William T. Sherman, who was quartered in the Old Johnston County Courthouse, which stood on this site (depicted above). After reading the telegram, General Sherman issued the following dispatch to his army:
"The general commanding announces to the army that he has official notice from General Grant that General Lee surrendered to him his entire army on the 9th. inst., at Appomattox Court House, Virginia."
Upon receiving this news, "tumultuous cheering" erupted and bands played, as Sherman's army celebrated the news of Lee's surrender in Smithfield before resuming its march on Raleigh in the final days of the Civil War.
Erected 1996 by Johnston County
LOCATION: Marker is in Smithfield, North Carolina, in Johnston County. Marker is at the intersection of East Market Street (U.S. 70) and South 2nd Street, on the right when traveling east on East Market Street. This marker is located in front of the Johnston County Courthouse. Marker is in this post office area: Smithfield NC 27577, United States of America.
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