The terms have been described as most fair and generous and they included the following: parole was given to the Confederate officers and soldiers with the understanding that they were not to take up arms against the United States during the period of exchange, military weapons were to be relinquished to Union military officers with the exception of the side-arms belonging to the Confederate officers and baggage and privately-owned animals were to be kept for the spring plowing. Thus, after four years of brave fighting, General Robert E. Lee, in the name of the Army of Northern Virginia, graciously accepted with dignity the surrender terms of General Ulysses S. Grant and stated that the terms "will do much toward the conciliation of our people." General Grant then proceeded to furnish food for the starving Confederate forces. The formal surrender took place the next day. When the Union forces began to cheer during the surrendering of Confederate arms, Grant immediately ordered the cheers to cease with the remark: "The war is over; the rebels are our countrymen again." Thus, Virginia, where the first blood of the War between the States was shed, was also the scene where the final negotiations for the conclusion of the war were made. From April 3 to April 10, 1865, Danville was the capital of the Confederacy. As the evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond took place, Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, and his cabinet moved to Danville. The present Danville Public Library occupies the building known as the Confederate Memorial Mansion where Jefferson Davis held his last cabinet meeting, making Danville the Confederate capital for a few days. At the time of the meeting, this beautiful building was the home of Major W. T. Sutherlin. Governor William Smith of Virginia also evacuated from Richmond to Lynchburg where the state archives had been sent earlier. After the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, Jefferson Davis and his cabinet fled to Greensboro, North Carolina, and eventually, to Washington, Georgia, where they finally dispersed. Davis was later confined for two years at Fort Monroe, Old Point Comfort, Virginia, from May 10, 1865 to May 15, 1867. He was finally released on bail furnished surprisingly by Horace Greeley and other individuals who had strongly opposed Davis and his Confederate ideas a few years previously. All the remaining Confederate troops had surrendered by the first week of June, and the War between the States had ended. Since a majority of the battles had been fought in Virginia, tremendous damage had been inflicted upon Virginia during the war. The state had been a constant battleground. Virginia troops, however, had distinguished themselves in their excellent fighting tactics, and the most brilliant military leaders of the Confederacy were Virginia-born.