Appomattox Court House

I live a little over 2hrs. from Appomattox, VA. but had never been there until now. On April 9, 1985 Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at the McLean House. After 4 long years and countless deaths the Civil War was over.

The end of the war led directly to the adoption of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the Constitution – ending slavery, providing citizenship and male suffrage.

Appomattox Court House (Reconstructed)

The orginal courthouse was built in 1846 and destroyed by fire in 1892. None of the surrender events took place here.

McLean House (Reconstructed)

General Lee asked on of his aides to find a house where he and Grant could meet privately. Lt. Col. Charles Marshall chose this one since the other one's he looked at were either not furnished or it owners had already fled the area. Lee and Grant would meet here twice. Once to discuss the terms of the surrender and the second time for Lee to request paroles for his men.

Above the inside of P Meeks store and what it might have looked like back in 1865.

The above picture is of inside the slave quarters at the McLean house. The building is a reconstruction.

Plunkett-Meeks Store and Woodson Law Office

The above two buildings are the Plunkett-Meek Store that was constructed in 1852. John Woodson practiced law from 1856 until his death eight years later in the smaller yellow building.

The above photo of the inside of the Peer's slave quarters and what it might have looked like in 1865.

Clover Hill Tavern (Original)

Built in 1819, this is the oldest structure in the village. Here the parole passes for the Confederate Army were printed. In Lee's second meeting with Grant he had asked for proof for his troops to prove they were not deserters.

Appomattox Court House Confederate Cemetery

Buried here are eighteen Confederate soilders who died between April 8 and 9 1865 in the closing days of the War between the States.

Lee's surrender did not bring an immediate end to the war. Not until the surrender of Joseph E. Johnston's army in North Carolina on April 26, Richard Taylor army on May 4 in Alabama and Edmund Kirby Smith's army in Texas on June 2, 1865 did the Confederacy cease to exist. All were surrendered on the terms set at Appomattox Court House by Lee and Grant.

Above in this room at the Clover Hill Tavern some 30,000 parole passes were printed for Confederate soilders. By April 11, 1865 the paroles were ready for distribution.

Peer's Cabin Slave Quarters (Original)

Of all the buildings both the inside and outside the above one was the one that really captured my attention. It had the look of 1865.

Peers House (Original)

Here at this site the last shots would be fired on the morning of April 9. 1865 by the Confederate Army.

No large battles were ever fought here. Neither sides have monuments here. In many ways after the war Appomattox was worse off than before. On June 18, 1930 Congress passed a bill that provided for building a monument at the site of the old court house. It was never built. In 1934-35 the National Park Service suggested that the entire village be restored. On August 3, 1935 the work began aquiring land and researching the records. The project was put on hold during World War ll. On April 15, 1954 the was redesigned. Today the village looks much as it did in April 1865.

September 9, 2006

Love never gives up,
never loses faith,
is always hopeful
and endures