I seem to recall but can’t find any cites at the moment that after the surrender Washington and Cornwallis spent several evenings together.
Which is why he was the main bad guy in Assassin’s Creed III 
Lee, being occupied commanding the Army of Northern Virginia, was nowhere near Vicksburg.
Lee and Grant never met during the war. At Appomattox, Grant mentioned to Lee that they had met once, decades before, during the Mexican-American War. Lee said he remembered.
Here, in Grant’s own words, is how the meeting at Appomattox unfolded.
here’s the specifics:
during the evenings, opposing generals from each side, not necessarily the top guys washington or corny, would drink and eat together and discuss the day’s battles before going back to their respective units for the nite…officers from opposing sides had more in common with each other than they did with enlisted men on their own side, for reasons of wealth, iq, experience, contacts, etc…since there was no tv then who would you rather hang with if you’re an officer, other officers or lowly enlisted men? but how much insight could or would they give each other about the day’s battles, did they ever lie to mislead, steal a look at the other fellow’s playbook? are we to beleive these guys are so honor stricken they wouldn’t think of such a thing?
As people have told you, there are many instances of CAPTURED officers being offered a chance to dine with the officers who captured them. But there are no cases I know of of enemy officers dining together and then returning to their respective sides after the meal was over.
::sigh::
And, just where did you get this from?
Wasn’t the [del]Hitler[/del]History Channel mentioned earlier?
Vaguely. This kid is always short on specifics.
I saw this show also and it said exactly as you posted. They stated that it wasn’t uncommon for opposing officers to “sup” (dine) together at night. I don’t recall the names of the officers involved.
**
Suicides** not crazy, folks. The show did in fact say this!
ETA: and they weren’t talking about captured officers either!
The closest I’ve ever read was that the lower ranks from the opposing sides in the Civil War would sometimes sneak out for a card game at night, then go back to fighting in the day. And there was at least one documented instance of a Confederate military field hospital catching fire and the Union side ceasing fire so the Rebs could evacuate the patients.
I’m not sure British officers would view colonial officers as their social equals. For example, there were clearly some complicated social issues at work at the surrender at Yorktown. According to wikipedia: “Cornwallis refused to meet formally with Washington, and also refused to come to the ceremony of surrender, claiming illness. Instead, Brigadier General Charles O’Hara presented the sword of surrender to Rochambeau. Rochambeau shook his head and pointed to Washington. O’Hara offered it to Washington, but he refused to accept it, and motioned to his second in command, Benjamin Lincoln, who had been humiliated by the British at Charleston, to accept it.”
The British felt they’d be less humiliated by surrendering to the French. I can’t see them boozing it up at night together.
Rochambeau probably felt he could do without the honor, since he was destined to be immortalized by rock / paper / scissors.
that’s where the game originated as a parlor game during these enemy dinners.
originally being tough guys they played pinfinger. this lead to some almost fighting which wasn’t the purpose of the evening. they devised something which couldn’t as easily get out of control.
such as?
What show was it, or at the very least what channel was it on?
I’d like to see some real documentation, not just an anecdote from the History Channel.
It’s NOT that the concept of generals or admirals knowing and liking each other is totally implausible, just that I have a VERY hard time picturing them socializing during the middle of a war.
I mean, look at a man like John Paul Jones- he’s regarded as a naval hero for the United States. But not long after the Revolutionary War, he accepted a commission to become an admiral in the Russian navy!
Centuries ago, skilled military commanders sometimes jumped sides and took commissions where they could. It would me no surprise if John Paul Jones found himself battling against naval officers he’d served WITH in earlier conflicts. Maybe even officers he considered friends.
But would he dine with such an officer WHILE he was at war with that guy? Very hard to picture.
Similarly, the British had many German troops (Hessians, especially) fighting on their side during the American Revolution. At the same time, Prussian general von Steuben was working for the Americans. Is it possible von Steuben knew and liked some of the German officers fighting for Britain? Sure- but he wouldn’t have gone out to dinner with them WHILE the war was going on!
For that matter, most of the top generals in the American Civil War had attended West Point and most had friends among the generals on the other side. I’m sure many Southern generals knew, remembered and liked their old classmate “Sam” Grant. But can you picture any of them inviting Sam over for a drink and a smoke the night after the Battle of the Wilderness?
Me either.
In the Medieval days the “Heralds” of each Army would watch the battle, sometimes together, and then they would meet with the victor after wards to compare notes, determine the winner and the official name of the battle.
This account from Wiki about Agincourt
“Immediately after the battle, Henry summoned the heralds of the two armies who had watched the battle together and with the principal French herald, Montjoie, settled on the name of the battle, Agincourt, after the nearest fortified place”
It was quite a while ago I saw this. They were showing it around the same time the John Adams series was on HBO, circa 2008 or so. I also remember it being around the 4th of July of that year.
I want to say the history channel but it might have been something else.
I remember the show saying this because it struck me as odd as it’s striking most of you.
i get over 1000 tv channels on my cable system…and you want me to remember which 1 it was? get real
You’re the one that started the discussion; it’s a reasonable question.
I’ve done some work for History in the last few years and they do emphasize (now) historical accuracy and fact-checking–obviously there’s lots of room for interpretation, but something like whether or not enemy generals dined together seems like something for which there would be evidence, or not. However, we have no certainty that this program was on History, or when it was made.
Moderator Note
You have given some “specifics” about the program you watched. In trying to determine if the information was true, it would help to know if this was from a reasonably reliable source or not. So it’s reasonable to ask what channel it was on.
If you’re going to ask questions in GQ, you should be prepared to be asked for the source of your information. And you should respond to such questions politely if you expect people to continue to help you out.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
I recall hearing in grade 9 history class that before the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, Wolfe and Montcalm exchanged gifts (although not by meeting personally). Then they killed each other.