DK - The American Civil War

THE APPOMATTOX CAMPAIGN

Lee was every inch the Southern

aristocrat, in full-dress uniform

with sash and jeweled sword; Grant,

the shorter of the two, wore a private’s

blouse and mud-spattered trousers

and boots, his best outfit in the

circumstances.

The oddly matched pair exchanged

cordialities, but when they turned to

business, the terms that Grant offered

proved more generous than Lee had

expected. Confederate officers and men

must give their word not to take up

arms again against the U.S. government

and deliver up their weapons and other

supplies as captured property. Officers

would be permitted to keep their

sidearms, horses, and personal baggage.

All men would be free to return to their

homes, “not to be disturbed by United

States authority so long as they observe

their paroles and the laws in force

where they may reside.” This last phrase

meant that the defeated soldiers were

freed from the threat of further

punishment or of prosecution for

treason. In addition, Grant agreed to

Lee’s request that common soldiers, too,

should be allowed to keep their horses

or mules for use as farm animals.

The formal act of surrender took place

three days later. A line of Confederate

soldiers tramped between columns of

Union troops commanded by Major

The surrender at Appomattox removed the

last Confederate hopes of a negotiated

peace, but it did not in fact end the war.

THE SOUTH BEHEADED

General Lee’s surrender did not apply to all

Confederate forces in the field. In theory, other

troops in other theaters were free to fight on. In

practice, though, none stood a realistic chance of

long-term military success. April 1865 had seen

the South lose both its capital and its

principal fighting force. With Lee defeated

and Confederate President Jefferson Davis in

flight 324–25 ❯❯, the South had no leader.

General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered in

North Carolina on April 26, General Richard

Taylor in Alabama on May 4, and General

Kirby Smith in the Trans-Mississippi region on

May 26, 324–25 ❯❯.

AFTER

UNION GENERAL 1828–1914

Nobody’s idea of a typical military commander,
Chamberlain was an academic by profession,
who was teaching modern languages at
Bowdoin College, Maine when the Civil War
broke out. He quickly rose to the rank of
colonel in the Union army, commanding a
detachment of New Englanders at the Battle
of Gettysburg, where in a crucial defensive
action his men held the Little Round Top hill
against repeated assaults. At Petersburg,
he was a brigade commander and twice
wounded, once so seriously that he
was initially given up for dead. Yet
he recovered and was given the
honor of presiding offficer at the
ceremonial laying down of arms
by Confederate forces following
Lee’s surrender.

JOSHUA LAWRENCE CHAMBERLAIN

“There is nothing left for me to

do but go and see General

Grant, and I would rather die

a thousand deaths.”

ROBERT E. LEE SPEAKING TO HIS STAFF, APRIL 8, 1865

General Chamberlain to lay down their

arms and battle standards. In exchange,

they received written passes assuring

them of a safe passage homeward. Lee

himself headed back to Richmond, a

commander without an army; as a mark

of respect, a troupe of Union cavalry

accompanied him for part of the way.

Souvenirs of surrender

Now on display at the Smithsonian

Institution, these are the chairs used

by Lee and Grant and the table

upon which they signed the

surrender document.

LEE’S CHAIR SPOOL TABLE GRANT’S CHAIR