Contents [hide]

1 Background

2 The road to Appomattox

3 The last battle

4 The surrender

5 The formal surrender of arms

6 Aftermath

7 See also

8 References

9 Notes

10 Further reading

[edit] Background

On April 1, 1865, Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan’s cavalry turned Lee’s flank at the Battle of Five Forks. The next day Grant’s army achieved a decisive breakthrough, effectively ending the Siege of Petersburg. Lee abandoned Petersburg and Richmond and headed west to Appomattox Station, where a supply train awaited him. From there he hoped to move south to join with Gen. Joseph E. Johnston’s army in North Carolina. On April 8, 1865, Union cavalry under Brig. Gen. George Armstrong Custer captured and burned three supply trains waiting for Lee’s army at the Battle of Appomattox Station. Now both the Army of the Potomac and the Army of the James were converging on Appomattox.

[edit] The road to Appomattox

With his supplies at Appomattox destroyed, Lee now looked to the railway at Lynchburg, where more supplies awaited him. The Union Army was closing in on Lee, all that lay between Lee and Lynchburg was Union cavalry. Lee hoped to break through the cavalry before infantry arrived. He sent a note to Grant saying that he did not wish to surrender his army just yet but was willing to discuss how Grant’s terms would affect the Confederacy. Grant, with a throbbing headache, stated that “it looks as if Lee still means to fight.”[2] The Union infantry was close, but the only unit near enough to support Sheridan’s cavalry was the XXIV Corps of the Army of the James. This corps traveled 30 miles (50 km) in 21 hours to reach the cavalry. Maj. Gen. Edward O. C. Ord, commander of the Army of the James, arrived with the XXIV Corps around 4:00 a.m. with the V Corps close behind. Sheridan deployed three divisions of cavalry along a low ridge to the southwest of Appomattox Court House.

[edit] The last battle

At dawn on April 9, the Confederate Second Corps under Maj. Gen. John B. Gordon attacked Sheridan’s cavalry and quickly forced back the first line. The Confederate cavalry under Maj. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee moved around the Union flank. The next line, held by Brig. Gens. Ranald S. Mackenzie and George Crook, fell back. Gordon’s troops charged through the Union lines and took the ridge, but as they reached the crest they saw the entire Union XXIV Corps in line of battle with the V Corps to their right. Fitz Lee’s cavalry saw the Union force and immediately withdrew and rode off towards Lynchburg. Ord’s troops began advancing against Gordon’s corps while the Union II Corps began moving against Lt. Gen. James Longstreet’s corps to the northeast. Colonel Charles Venable of Lee’s staff rode in at this time and asked for an assessment, and Gordon gave him a reply he knew Lee did not want to hear: “Tell General Lee I have fought my corps to a frazzle, and I fear I can do nothing unless I am heavily supported by Longstreet’s corps.” Upon hearing it Lee finally stated the inevitable: “Then there is nothing left for me to do but to go and see General Grant, and I would rather die a thousand deaths.”

Many of Lee’s officers, including Longstreet, agreed that surrendering the army was the only option left. The only notable officer opposed to surrender was Lee’s chief of artillery, Brig. Gen. Edward Porter Alexander, who predicted that if Lee surrenders then “every other [Confederate] army will follow suit”. At 8:00 a.m., Lee rode out to meet Grant, accompanied by three of his aides. With gunshots still being heard on Gordon’s front and Union skirmishers still advancing on Longstreet’s front, Lee received a message from Grant. After several hours of correspondence between Grant and Lee, a cease-fire was enacted and Grant received Lee’s request to discuss surrender terms. Lee’s aide, Col. Charles Marshall, was sent to find a location for Grant and Lee to meet. Marshall selected the home of Wilmer McLean, coincidentally the same man who was forced to lend his home to Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard at the First Battle of Bull Run, the first major battle of the war.