Appomattox - Apomattox Court House

Ms. Edwards, Ms. Wood, Kennedy and I went to the the location where General Lee surrendered to General Grant. Ms. Edwards will be posting pictures tomorrow. You will notice that neither Kennedy nor I are in any of the pictures. Ms. Wood carried us around in a backpack all day but we weren't included in any pictures. She promised me that we would take pictures tomorrow.

Ms. Edwards learned the following information about Appomattox Court House:

• The surrender of General Lee's troops took place on April 9, 1865.
  
• It is said that the Civil War started in McLeon's backyard in 1861 and ended in his parlor in 1865. Wilmer McLean and his family lived in Manassas Virginia at the start of the Civil War. The First Battle of Manassas took place on McLean's farm (Yorkshire Plantation). In 1863 he moved his family to Appomattox County, Virginia. On April 9, 1865 General Lee surrendered to Lt. General Grant in McLean's parlor.


• The surrender took place on Palm Sunday.
  
• The population of Appomattox Court House was never above 150 people.


• Mcleon's house was also used for the April 10 Surrender Commissioners' meeting and as the headquarters of Major General John Gibbon.


• The terms of surrender were that each officer was to give their word that they wouldn't take up arms against the US Government. Each officer would sign a pledge that would represent the men in their command. The men were allowed to take their personal bags and horses.
  
• Joshua Chamberlin of the 20th Maine was at Appomattox.

Below are some of the pictures that Ms. Edwards took of her trip. The first picture is of the outside of the Mcleon's house.

The following two pictures show the room and the furnishings that would have appeared in the room that the two men wrote and signed the terms of surrender. The items shown in the pictures are not the original items.

Here is a picture of the walkway that the soldiers who surrendered had to walk down.

Here is a picture of a cemetery that is located near Appomattox Court House. The cemetery has only one union grave in it. The rest are to honor to the Confederate dead.