Lee's Surrender at Appomattox 1865 Vintage Postcard
Magic Lantern slide from our private archive. A true gem and collector's item for the Civil War enthusiast in your life. The Battle of Appomattox Court House, fought on the morning of April 9, 1865, was one of the last battles of the American Civil War. It was the final engagement of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's forces before he surrendered to the Union under Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. Lee, having abandoned the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, after the ten-month Siege of Petersburg, retreated west, hoping to join his army with the Confederate forces in North Carolina. Union forces pursued and cut off the Confederate retreat at the village of Appomattox Court House. Lee launched an attack to break through the Union force to his front, assuming the Union force consisted entirely of cavalry. When he realized that the cavalry was backed up by two corps of Union infantry, he had no choice but to surrender. The signing of the surrender documents occurred in the parlor of the house owned by Wilmer McLean on the afternoon of April 9. On April 12, a formal ceremony marked the disbandment of Lee's forces and the parole of its officers and men, effectively ending the war in Virginia. This event triggered a series of surrenders across the South, signaling the end of the war.
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