I certainly don’t know when the Ukrainian war will end. The ignominious end of the 30-day ceasefire proposal reminds us that the Iron Curtain still separates the West and Russia. It is not going away.

But we do know how one war ended. In the United States, Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederacy, never surrendered. The fighting stopped when General Ulysses Grant and General Robert E. Lee agreed on terms of surrender.

In September 1864, General Sherman captured Atlanta. Republican spirits soared, and Lincoln became the first President since Andrew Jackson elected to a second term.

After Atlanta, Jefferson Davis left Richmond, Virginia and rallied the South with promises of victory, claiming “I see no chance for Sherman to escape from a defeat or a disgraceful retreat,” (McPherson, James M.. Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (Oxford History of the United States Book 6) (p. 807). Oxford University Press). The world, of course, saw the occupation of Atlanta as proof that the Union was close to victory. But the war wouldn’t end for nearly eight months.

Confederate politicians insisted that victory was possible. General Sherman agreed the war wasn’t close to ending: “We cannot change the hearts of those people of the South, but we can make war so terrible . . . [and] make them so sick of war that generations would pass away before they would again appeal to it” (p. 809).

After his famous march through Georgia, Sherman attacked South Carolina, the state that ignited the war. Until late 1864, the war had left the Palmetto State untouched. With a vengeance, the North attacked. The state’s long, Atlantic-Ocean coastline made it the last place for the South to receive supplies. The Navy stopped that. The fort protecting South Carolina’s port was captured, and traders were driven off. Town after town was burned. Livestock captured and fed Sherman’s army. Homes were looted for supplies. The state could no longer supply the thousands in General Lee’s divisions.

From there, Sherman’s army marched through North Carolina towards Virginia, preparing to join General Grant in attacking Lee and his army. The long journey was an engineering marvel. Roads under water during the wet winter were restored, bridges built, and the South’s hopes that these natural obstacles would stop Sherman were dashed.

So the war continued.

In Lincoln’s December 1864 annual message to Congress, he rejoiced in the victories but cautioned that the South would only end the war with a demonstration of its hopelessness. However obvious the South’s defeat appeared, it continued to fight.

“In this climate of opinion another movement for peace negotiations flared up and then fizzled out,” Professor James McPherson commented in his extraordinary history.  Lincoln met the Southern delegation and told them bluntly that peace would happen when the Confederacy recognized the restoration of the National authority throughout all the States, no receding on the Slavery question, and the disbanding of all forces hostile to the government (p. 822). The Southern peace feelers failed.

Lee’s army crumbled. Every night a hundred or more soldiers deserted. Soldiers were in bare feet. Men and horses were weak from hunger. When Southerners attacked, the North won. It captured the soldiers and drove Lee’s men back.

Finally, on April 9^th, Lee recognized that surrender was the only option. He met with General Grant. His troops were fed, surrendered their arms, and were guaranteed that they would not be tried for treason. They began the long march home. The war was over. Jefferson Davis was not involved in this event, nor was Abraham Lincoln.

It’s entirely possible, even probable, that negotiations will not end the war in Ukraine. Unlike the South, Ukraine is guaranteed funds and supplies. But the country is war torn. Russia is far larger, and despite sporadic attacks, the nation hasn’t suffered the destruction inflicted on Ukraine. The Ukrainians will decide when they want the fighting to stop, and there is no sign that this will happen in the foreseeable future.