The End, But Not Really

Tweet

The welcome signs in Appomattox County, Virginia and the city of Appomattox tout the location as “where our nation reunited.” It is generally considered the place where America’s Civil War ended. After a defeat at the Battle of Appomattox Court House, Confederate General Robert E. Lee received a letter from Union General Ulysses S. Grant, requesting that Lee surrender to prevent “further effusion of blood.” Terms, including parole for surrendering Confederate troops (instead of arrest and execution for treason against the United States), were quickly worked out. In less than two hours, the two generals of the opposing sides met at the McLean House in Appomattox, where Lee signed a formal acceptance of surrender at approximately 3:00 PM on April 9, 1865. Most of us in the US have been taught that such was the conclusion of the War Between the States. And, of course, it wasn’t. On April 26, 1865, General William Sherman accepted the surrender of Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston at Bennett Place in Durham, North Carolina. Then there was Juneteenth, when General Gordon Granger ensured Texas slaves were freed. Here’s some wild trivia for you. Do you know where the absolute LAST surrender of the War Between the States happened? Liverpool. England. As in, four moptops land. It seems that the Confederates had an agreement with a company in Liverpool to build ships for the Confederacy. On November 6, 1865 the CSS Shenandoah pulled into a harbor in Liverpool, where the soldiers onboard surrendered. In actuality, though, “the end” did begin at Appomattox. I was happy to go back there. I’d been as a child, but the importance of the place didn’t ring as true as it does as an adult. In the photos you see the McLean House, which was hastily chosen (no one knows exactly why, but the speculation is Wilmer McLean was one of the few townspeople who hadn’t fled when the battle came near, or that he was the first “civilian” the Union army happened upon while looking for a site to host the meeting between Grant and Lee). In the parlor, on the first floor, Lee signed a simple, five-paragraph handwritten document at the desk that’s also pictured. In addition to the McLean House, there are reconstructed buildings showing the lawyer’s office, store, courthouse, and other properties. The battlefield is separate and nearby. It was a wonderful return for me…and a hopeful one. Hopeful, in that we don’t have to go through another time of “reuniting” our country. PHOTOS: Back of McLean House Desk where Robert E. Lee signed the surrender of his army to Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865