Site
Appomattox National Historic Park
111 National Park Drive
Appomattox, VA 24522
Daily, 9am - 5pm
Picnic - There is a set of picnic tables at the main entrance of the park to the right of the flag pole.
The reconstructed Appomattox Courthouse building houses the park's visitor center. The original courthouse burned down in 1892 and was rebuilt in 1964 as the visitor center. Ask the staff here to help you plan your park visit, pick up brochures on local attractions and key Civil War subjects, learn more in the park's exhibits, and watch the park's 17-minute orientation film, "With Malice Toward None."
McLean House - The house is open and staffed daily from 9:00-5:00 during the warm season. During winter months when visitation is slow, staff lead guided tours of the house are scheduled several times throughout the day.
History
General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to General Ulysses S. Grant in the McLean House parlor on April 9, 1865. This event marked the beginning of the end of the Civil War.
Dressed in his ceremonial uniform (according to himself, "I may be taken prisoner today. I must look my best."), Lee waited for Grant to arrive.
Grant, whose headache had ended when he received Lee's note, arrived at the McLean house in a mud-spattered uniform—a government-issue sack coat with trousers tucked into muddy boots, no sidearms, and with only his tarnished shoulder straps showing his rank.
It was the first time the two men had seen each other face-to-face in almost two decades. Suddenly overcome with sadness, Grant found it hard to get to the point of the meeting, and instead the two generals briefly discussed their only previous encounter, during the Mexican–American War. Lee brought the attention back to the issue at hand, and Grant offered the same terms he had before:
In accordance with the substance of my letter to you of the 8th inst., I propose to receive the surrender of the Army of N. Va. on the following terms, to wit: Rolls of all the officers and men to be made in duplicate. One copy to be given to an officer designated by me, the other to be retained by such officer or officers as you may designate. The officers to give their individual paroles not to take up arms against the Government of the United States until properly exchanged, and each company or regimental commander sign a like parole for the men of their commands. The arms, artillery and public property to be parked and stacked, and turned over to the officer appointed by me to receive them. This will not embrace the side-arms of the officers, nor their private horses or baggage. This done, each officer and man will be allowed to return to their homes, not to be disturbed by United States authority so long as they observe their paroles and the laws in force where they may reside.
The terms were as generous as Lee could hope for; his men would not be imprisoned or prosecuted for treason. Officers were allowed to keep their sidearms, horses, and personal baggage. In addition to his terms, Grant also allowed the defeated men to take home their horses and mules to carry out the spring planting, and provided Lee with a supply of food rations for his starving army; Lee said it would have a very happy effect among the men and do much toward reconciling the country.
The terms of the surrender were recorded in a document handwritten by Grant's adjutant, Ely S. Parker, a Native American of the Seneca tribe, and completed around 4 p.m., April 9. Lee, upon discovering Parker to be a Seneca, remarked "It is good to have one real American here." Parker replied, "Sir, we are all Americans."
As Lee left the house and rode away, Grant's men began cheering in celebration, but Grant ordered an immediate stop. "I at once sent word, however, to have it stopped", he said. "The Confederates were now our countrymen, and we did not want to exult over their downfall", he said.
Grant soon visited the Confederate army, and then he and Lee sat on the McLean home's porch and met with visitors such as Longstreet and George Pickett before the two men left for their capitals.
The McLean House was originally constructed in 1848 as the guest house for the Raine Tavern. This house was disassembled in 1893. The group that bought the house considered rebuilding it at the Chicago World's Fair, but changed their minds and planned to re-build it in Washington, D.C. so that more people could see it. The investors involved in the move went bankrupt so the disassembled house never left Appomattox Court House. The house materials laid in the yard unprotected for over 50 years. When the home was rebuilt in 1948, only 5500 bricks remained. Most of these bricks are between the two windows on the front of the house.
East Village
The eastern portion of the village includes the Kelley/Robinson house, signs to mark the Confederate Stacking of Arms, and the location where Lee and Grant met again on April 10. A ranger is stationed at the East End of the village on most weekends during the summer to share these stories, including the life of John Robinson, who helped found the first African American church in Appomattox after he was emancipated. Visitors can also learn about the second meeting between Grant and Lee on April 10, 1865 and the Gordon/Chamberlain salute that started the formal surrender of Confederate infantry arms and flags on April 12, 1865.