This historical site commemorates the
beginning of the end of the Civil War and its impact on history. On April 9,
1865, General Robert E. Lee of the Confederacy surrendered the Army of Northern
Virginia to General Ulysses S. Grant of the Union. A week earlier General Lee
realized he could no longer defend Richmond, Virginia from the Union siege and
abandoned it. General Lee then attempted
to move south to join forces with General Johnson but was thwarted by General
Grant’s movements. These counter measures by General Grant forced Lee’s army to
be surrounded just north of the Appomattox Court House Village. This event alone did not end the Civil War but
it was the beginning of the end. After
agreeing to the terms of surrender, General Lee signed the official surrender
documents in the parlor of Wilmer McLean’s home at the location of what is now
the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park.
I have been to the Appomattox Court House
many times and I still learn something new every time I go there. There were
however certain facts which interested me during my recent visit to the park. One of the first and most interesting facts
that I learned was that General Lee did not sign the surrender document at the
court house itself like I had previously believed. He had, in fact, signed the
document at the home of Wilmer McLean who resided nearby. The village itself was named Appomattox Court
House. A second interesting fact was
that the court house at the site was not the original, it was actually a
reconstruction since the original court house burned down in 1892. Despite
this, a majority of the other structures at the park are still the original
buildings from the time of the surrender.
In regards to why the Appomattox
Court House is important the site reminds visitors of the event that helped end
one of the darkest periods in America’s history, the Civil War. Some people
consider the surrender at Appomattox the place where the nation reunited and
that if it were not for General Lee’s surrender to General Grant at the
Appomattox Court House, the Civil War could have continued on longer with even
more deaths. Another important reason
why the site is important is so that future generations will remember what
happened on April 9, 1865. More than just the end of a brutal conflict but the
reunification of a new nation. A nation
were all men are free and the vanquished would not be decimated by a vengeful
victor.
