I recently made my first visit ever to Appomattox Court House – the site of Lee’s surrender to Grant. I’ll save most the pictures and remarks for a posting on this date in 2015!
Appomattox Courthouse
It really is a great place to visit. There is an entire restored village there at the site of the courthouse in the 1860s. In subsequent decades, the courthouse building burned and the town of Appomattox grew a couple miles away where the railroad was located.
The actual home in which the contending Generals met was the McLean house. Of course we all know the story of Wilmer McLean – whose family departed their home in Manassas, Virginia in order to escape the War, only to have it find them again.
After the actual documents of terms of surrender and acceptance were dealt with, six commissioners – three from each side – were chosen to work out details of the surrender itself. General John Gibbon was among those for the Union, while John B. Gordon was one of the three for the Confederates. Of course, they were less than a mile apart on the Antietam Battlefield.
The Wilmer McLean House
The McLean House Parlor
Randy Buchman
Enfilading Lines 