Robert E. Lee’s army was disintegrating. It was tired, hungry and reeling from defeat after defeat. U.S. Grant knew this as well and on April 7 opened communications with Lee about surrendering. While Lee listened he was not ready to surrender. He still believed that he could reach a rendezvous with Joseph Johnston’s army coming from North Carolina. All he needed as time and food but he would get neither.
Union cavalry led by Wesley Merritt and George Custer caught the Confederate wagon train near Appomattox Station and burned it on April 8. Both George Meade’s Army of the Potomac and Edward Ord’s Army of the James were converging on the area. Lee’s only hope was to reach Lynchburg and the rail junction there.
Lee sent a message to Grant on April 8 telling him that he was not ready to surrender but asked what terms he would offer. Grant was suffering from a terrible migraine and that did not help his demeanor especially since Grant knew Lee was all but trapped. Union cavalry blocked the roads out of Appomattox Court House so Lee was hemmed in but that did not stop Lee who resolved to try to escape anyway. If there was to be a fight the Union cavalry would need infantry support and it was coming. John Gibbon’s XXIV Corps with Ord himself was marching fast to support the cavalry with Charles Griffin’s V Corps right behind. If they could arrive in time to prevent a breakout the war would be over.
Phil Sheridan’s cavalry occupied a low ridge to the southwest of the town on the Lynchburg Road. John Gordon’s Corps attacked at dawn on April 9 and slowly broke through the cavalry line. For a moment there was hope that Lee’s men would escape but when Gordon’s men reached the top of the ridge they saw Gibbon’s men in line of battle with Griffin forming to their right. This was all Fitzhugh Lee, who commanded the Confederate cavalry, needed to see and he rode away from the battle with his command. To make matters worse Andrew Humphreys’ II Corps was also arriving on the field and moving to attack. Gordon was asked his assessment of the situation and told one of Lee’s staff officers that he could not hold unless heavily supported. The game was up.
Lee did not want to surrender. It would be a stain on his honor and he was also unsure about what would happen to himself. Past leaders of rebellions were executed after all. He did not want to be jailed and paraded before his enemies but at this point he had little choice in the matter and at 8 AM he rode out to meet Grant. When Grant’s migraine disappeared as he read Lee’s note and began traveling the four miles toward Appomattox Court House. He allowed Lee to choose the site for the surrender.
Lee sent his chief of staff Charles Marshall to find a site. He found the home of Wilmer McLean and received permission to use the home for the occasion. McLean had moved to Appomattox to escape the war as his home was near Manassas and the first great battle of the war. A cannonball had even gone through his kitchen in 1861. He famously said afterwards that the war began in his kitchen and ended in his parlor.
Skirmishing was still going on but ended when a cease-fire was soon declared. Lee arrived at the McLean house in his finest dress uniform. Grant arrived a bit later covered in mud, without a sword and wearing a private’s blouse. Only the three starts on each of his shoulders denoted that he was U.S. Grant. They briefly discussed the Mexican War where the two had briefly met. Lee did not remember Grant at all and brought Grant to the topic at hand and asked for terms. Grant offered the same terms as he had offered before: Lee’s army would be paroled rather than go to a prison camp, their arms would be stacked and turned over to Grant but officers could keep their sidearms and baggage and anyone who owned their horses could keep them. They would be free to return home and would remain unmolested as long as they observed the conditions of their paroles and no one would be imprisoned or tried for treason. President Lincoln wanted to let the south up easy and had made his wishes known to Grant in the waning days of the war.
These were about as generous of terms as Lee could have hoped for. The document was handwritten by Ely Parker, Grant’s adjutant and a member of the Seneca Tribe and signed around 4 PM. When Lee found out that Parker was a Seneca he remarked “It is good to have one real American here” to which Parker replied, “Sir, we are all Americans.” When word of the surrender leaked out the Union soldiers started to cheer. Grant quickly put a stop to it as he did not want to rub salt in the Confederate’s wounds, they were valiant foes and were also now their countrymen again. McLean’s parlor was emptied as Union officers purchased the furniture or simply took it.
Rations were issued to Lee’s men and Grant and several other officers took the occasion to visit with old comrades. Lee gave his farewell address to the army and departed for Richmond. Grant also left for Washington. Joshua Chamberlain was selected to lead the formal surrender ceremony and about 28,000 men stacked their arms and turned over their battle flags. His men gave a salute of arms to their longtime foes.
The war itself was not over. There were still about 175,000 Confederates in the field and the government, although on the run, was still free. Most of the soldiers were tired and when Joseph Johnston surrendered about two weeks later there was no point in continuing. By the end of spring nearly ever Confederate had surrendered.
Appomattox is preserved as a part of Appomattox Court House National Historic Site.
