The Appomattox Court House 2015

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.