Nearby town: Appomattox, VA; Lynchburg, VA
"I at once sent word, however, to have it [the cheering] stopped. The Confederates were now our countrymen, and we did not want to exult over their downfall."
-Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, ordering his troops to quit cheering after they received news of Lee's surrender
April 1865 - the Civil War had been raging for four years. The Confederate Army had proved resilient against Union efforts to subdue their insurrection. After cycling through a number of generals to lead the Union army, Lincoln had finally found his man: Ulysses "Unconditional Surrender" Grant. After Grant's impressive and critical victories at Fort Donelson (1862), Vicksburg (1863), and Chattanooga (1863); Lincoln promoted him to be the head of the Union Army. Like Lincoln, Grant realized the necessity that the Confederates unconditionally surrender to the Union Army. It was clear that any kind of negotiated or brokered peace with the Confederates would preserve slavery within the country's borders...a resolution that was absolutely unacceptable to the Lincoln administration. Grant's strategic skill and tenacity was exactly what Lincoln needed to force an unconditional surrender.
In May 1864, Grant conducted the Overland Campaign, waging a number of battles throughout Virginia that positioned the Union troops to lay seige on Confederate General Robert E. Lee's troops in the cities of Petersburg and the Confederate capital of Richmond. This seige lasted for nearly 10 months. Finally, in late March 1865, Lee became desparate. Short on supplies and rations, Lee ordered a nighttime retreat from Richmond to attempt to meet up with Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's troops in North Carolina, and then these combined troops could stage a counterattack against Grant's forces and break the seige.
Union cavalry, under command of Gen. Philip Sheridan, pursued Lee's troops and cut them off at the village of Appomattox in central Virginia. On the morning of April 9, 1865, Lee decided to make one last-ditch effort and attack. He assumed that only Sheridan's light-armed cavalry had pursued them to their position...but Union infantry had followed behind Sheridan. Therefore, the cavalry was supported and reinforced by two corps of Union infantry. When Lee discovered this he said "Then there is nothing left for me to do but to go and see General Grant, and I would rather die a thousand deaths." Lee's army was ragged, many with no shoes, and provisions so low that many were starving...he had no choice but to surrender.
Lee rode out to meet General Grant. At the same time, he sent General James Longstreet and his aides to the Union lines with a white linen dish towel to serve as the Confederate flag of truce. Union General George Armstrong Custer (yes...THAT Gen. Custer), leading one of Sheridan's cavalry units, met with Longstreet after a truce had been arranged. Longstreet inquired of the terms for surrender. Custer apparently uttered: "In the name of General Sheridan, I demand the unconditional surrender of this army." Longstreet said he could not do so, but asked Custer that the truce be respected until Lee met with Grant.
Meanwhile, Grant met with Lee to formally accept the Army of Northern Virginia's surrender. This meeting took place at the home of Wilmer McLean in the village of Appomattox. If McLean's name sounds familiar...his home was also the site of the first major battle of the Civil War, the Battle of Bull Run/Manassas. After the carnage at Bull Run, McLean, a wholesale grocer, decided to move his family out of harm's way...further south to the village of Appomattox. Ironically, McLean's property was the site of both what was effectively the beginning and the ending of the Civil War.
You can visit McLean's home at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park. They have arranged the parlor to look as it did when Lee surrendered to Grant.
The two powerful generals met in this room on April 9, 1865. They had not seen each other face-to-face for nearly two decades, when they both served in the U.S. Army during the Mexican-American War in the late 1840s. The contrast between the two could not have been more jarring. Lee was well-groomed and dressed in his ceremonious white uniform. Grant arrived in his mud-spattered government-issued sack coat, with his trousers tucked into his muddy boots.
Grant gave his terms - Lee's troops would give up their arms and artillery to the Union army, but they were allowed to keep their horses. Lee's troops would be given a parole (in which they promised not to take up arms against the U.S. government), and could return to their homes. The soldiers would not be imprisoned or prosecuted for treason, as long as they honored the parole. Grant also provided Lee's starving army with a supply of food rations. The terms were as generous as Lee could hope for -- and he told Grant that the food rations would do much toward reconciling the country. Lee never forgot Grant's magnanimity on this occassion, and would not tolerate an unkind word spoken of Grant in his presence for the rest of his life.
On April 10, Lee gave his farewell address to his army. On April 12, the Confederate army marched through Appomattox and surrendered their arms and colors to the Union Army. Over 28,000 Confederate troops surrendered. Although a few skirmishes were fought afterwards in Texas, Lee's surrender effectively ended the Civil War. The war was over -- but the toll was devastating. Hundreds and hundreds of thousands of lives had been lost. Yet, the Union was preserved and slavery was abolished.
Appomattox Court House National Historical Park was established in 1935. The site preserves dozens of historic buildings. Make sure to spend some time going through all the exhibits and watch the interpretive videos at the fantastic Visitor Center.
the old courthouse now serves as the Park's Visitor Center
The Clover Hill Tavern was built in 1819. The Union Army used this building to print out the paroles that were issued to Confederate soldiers to allow them to return to their homes.
inside the Clover Hill Tavern over 30,000 paroles were printed
this building served as the Appomattox County Jail
Plunkett-Meeks general store (on the left) and Woodson Law Office (small building on the right)
Visit this hallowed ground at Appomattox Court House National Historial Park to learn more about the end of the Civil War. For more info: https://www.nps.gov/apco/index.htm
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