Tag Archives: Appomattox

Picturing Union Victory – Early Images of the Surrender at Appomattox

Posted on June 18, 2020 by Cecily Nelson Zander

Here’s a familiar story: On April 9, 1865, generals Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee met in Wilmer McLean’s parlor at Appomattox Courthouse to sign the documents that would dictate the surrender of the most important national institution in … Continue reading →

Posted in Battlefields & Historic Places, Memory | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

ECW Weekender: Touring Appomattox (Virtually)

Posted on April 10, 2020 by Sarah Kay Bierle

Yesterday, I was lamenting on Twitter that I should not go to Appomattox. It had been in the back of my mind that, if I could manage it with my work schedule, an impromptu afternoon drive there would be appropriate … Continue reading →

Posted in ECW Weekender | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Ending the War, More or Less

Posted on April 9, 2020 by Meg Groeling

April 9, 1865, is the day that most people think the American Civil War came to an end. General Robert E. Lee realized his gallant Army of Northern Virginia was simply too beaten up to continue its fight for Confederate … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil War Events, Emerging Civil War, Leadership--Confederate, Leadership--Federal, Trans-Mississippi, Western Theater | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Fighting Rebels and Fighting Fires: The Life of George F. Griffin (Part 1/2)

Posted on November 25, 2019 by Ryan Quint

Sometime around midnight of April 19, 1880, a defective range stove started a fire on the first floor of No. 18, Travers Street, in Boston, Massachusetts. A passing patrolman in the police department saw the flames and raced to a … Continue reading →

Posted in Battles, Campaigns, Common Soldier, Personalities | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Of Dawn & Dusk, Beginnings & Endings

Posted on April 12, 2019 by Sarah Kay Bierle

Wait for it. Dawn creeps along the horizon. The coming day is foretold with growing light, long before the sun’s disk crests the horizon. Like a saga of history – an event long looming on time’s horizon, then bursting suddenly … Continue reading →

Posted in Battles, Primary Sources | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Preservation News: Celebrating Saved Land At Appomattox

Posted on November 10, 2018 by Emerging Civil War

News from American Battlefield Trust… Dramatic scenes of the final fighting between Robert E. Lee’s and Ulysses S. Grant’s men are being preserved for posterity by the American Battlefield Trust. Working over several years, the nation’s top historic land-preservation nonprofit … Continue reading →

Posted in Preservation | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Bittersweet Appomattox

Posted on April 13, 2018 by Edward S. Alexander

First Lieutenant Robert Pratt belonged to the 5th Vermont Infantry, a regiment that rightfully claimed credit as the first unit to irreparably break the Confederate lines southwest of Petersburg on April 2, 1865. Pratt played a pivotal role in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Battles, Common Soldier, Primary Sources | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Question of the Week: 4/9-4/15/18

Posted on April 9, 2018 by Emerging Civil War

In your opinion, what was the most remarkable thing about the campaign or surrender at Appomattox?

Posted in Battles, Question of the Week | Tagged , , | 22 Comments

Lee and Guerrilla Warfare

Posted on December 7, 2017 by Chris Mackowski

Two days before Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, a council of officers in what was left of the bedraggled Army of Northern Virginia hashed out three possible options for Robert E. Lee to consider. General John Brown Gordon, who was not … Continue reading →

Posted in Campaigns, Leadership--Confederate | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

“If Grant Had Been Drinking at Appomattox” by James Thurber

Posted on October 11, 2017 by Meg Groeling

James Thurber (1894-1961) was an American author, cartoonist, playwright and celebrated wit. He published mostly in the magazine The New Yorker and loved to poke fun at things other people took perhaps a little too seriously. Here is one of my … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Authors, Civil War in Pop Culture | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments