The main Confederate Army did not surrender on April 9, 1865! Lee's army surrendered on April 9, 1865. He had 35,000 men with him. On April 26, 1865 General Joseph E. Johnson surrendered his army of 75,000 men and all Confederate armies east of the Mississippi River. The General in charge of all Confederate troops west of the Mississippi, General E. Kirby Smith, said "Hell no, I will not surrender!" And he walked away from his army. Most of his army simply walked home. A number of them said, "Lee surrendered, I didn't."
Plans to assassinate both Lincoln and Jefferson Davis, The President of the Confederacy), date from 1862. Why it took until after Lee's surrender seems confusing. John Wilkes Booth was a part of the group that wanted to assassinate Lincoln. Although the group had been established for years, it only happened after Lee's surrender.
Jefferson Davis escaped just before the fall of Richmond, Virginia. He was captured by Union forces outside of Fitzgerald, Georgia. He avoided assassination. He served a prison sentence and lost his property.
Lincoln, Johnson, Grant, and Seward
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