AUBURN, Ala. (AP) - Auburn University has acquired a rare letter from Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee outlining the terms for the surrender of Lee's army, clearing the way for an end to the Civil War.

The handwritten letter is dated April 10, 1865. Dwayne Cox, head of Auburn Libraries Special Collections said it is a copy Grant made of a letter he wrote to Lee the day before after Lee formally surrendered at Appomattox Court House.

"In 30 years as an archivist, I have never received an item of greater significance," Cox said.

The letter has been independently authenticated by two experts. It was a gift to the university by James L. Starr, a 1971 graduate.
In the letter, Grant calls on Confederate forces to surrender artillery and pledge their loyalty to the United States. But he promises officers can keep their side arms and can return home. Surrendering soldiers were also allowed to keep privately owned horses.

Grant and Lee corresponded frequently toward the end of the war, and many letters and copies of letters they wrote still exist. Documents billed as copies made by others are easy to find on online auction sites.

But Kenneth Noe, an Auburn history professor and widely respected authority on the Civil War, said this letter is extraordinary because it was written personally by Grant.

"What we seem to have is Grant's personal copy ... written in his hand,'" Noe said.
Cox said he doesn't know what happened to the original letter.

The letter reflects President Abraham Lincoln's desire for generous surrender terms to help end the war quickly, Noe said. But it also serves as a reminder that Lee's surrender at Appomattox didn't mark the end of the war.

Fighting continued in Texas and Alabama. The last major Confederate forces surrendered at Citronelle on May 4, 1865, Noe said.

The letter is on display in the Ralph Brown Draughon Library on campus. Along with the rest of the university's Civil War collection, it will be made available online in Auburn's Digital Library during the Civil War sesquicentennial, beginning in April 2011.
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Information from: The Birmingham News,
 http://www.al.com/birminghamnews

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AP-CS-06-13-09 1758EDT