Appomattox: How the Civil War Came to an End

By April 1865, the American Civil War had lasted nearly four years. Hundreds of thousands were dead, much of the South had been devastated, and Confederate armies were running out of men and supplies.

Then came Appomattox.

On April 9, 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia. The surrender did not instantly end every Confederate military operation, but it became the defining moment that signaled the collapse of the Confederacy and the approaching end of the war.

Lee's Army Runs Out of Options

The final campaign began after Union forces broke through Confederate defenses around Petersburg, Virginia, on April 2, 1865. Lee abandoned Petersburg and the Confederate capital of Richmond, hoping to move his army west.

His plan was to obtain supplies and potentially join Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston's forces in North Carolina.

Union troops pursued aggressively.

Lee's exhausted army struggled with hunger, desertion, and constant pressure from Grant's forces. Union troops blocked escape routes and captured thousands of Confederate soldiers during the retreat.

By April 8, Union cavalry had reached Appomattox Station and captured Confederate supply trains. Lee's remaining options were disappearing.

One Final Attempt

On the morning of April 9, Confederate troops attempted to break through Union forces near Appomattox Court House.

At first, they pushed back Union cavalry. But when Confederate soldiers reached higher ground, they discovered additional Union infantry positioned ahead of them.

Union forces were also closing in from behind.

Lee now faced the possibility that continuing the fight could lead to the destruction of what remained of his army. He decided to seek terms from Grant.

Later that day, the two commanders met in the home of Wilmer McLean in the village of Appomattox Court House.

Grant's Terms of Surrender

Grant offered terms designed to bring the fighting to an end without unnecessarily humiliating the defeated Confederate soldiers.

Officers and men were allowed to return home after being paroled, provided they did not take up arms against the United States again. Officers could keep their sidearms, horses, and personal belongings.

Grant also permitted Confederate soldiers who owned horses or mules to take them home for spring planting.

The surrender involved approximately 28,000 Confederate soldiers.

When Union troops began celebrating, Grant reportedly discouraged excessive demonstrations. The defeated Confederates, he believed, were once again fellow Americans.

The War Wasn't Over Yet

Appomattox is often remembered as the place where the Civil War ended, but fighting did not stop everywhere on April 9.

Other Confederate armies remained in the field. Johnston surrendered a large Confederate force to Union General William Tecumseh Sherman in North Carolina later that month. Additional Confederate forces surrendered during the following weeks.

The last major Confederate military formations eventually laid down their arms, bringing organized resistance to an end.

Appomattox nevertheless became the powerful symbol of the war's conclusion.

The surrender ended the fighting between two of the conflict's most important armies without a final catastrophic battle. It also opened an even more difficult chapter for the United States.

The Union had survived, and slavery was approaching constitutional abolition. But the country now faced enormous questions about Reconstruction, citizenship, civil rights, and how former Confederate states would return to the Union.

Appomattox ended one struggle while beginning another: the long effort to determine what reunion and freedom would mean in postwar America.