What do you consider the official end of the war?

[Stryker65]

There are many possible dates:
April 1866: Johnson officially proclaims the war over
November 1865: Bulloch surrenders the Shenandoah
June 1865: Watie surrenders the last brigade
May 1865: Smith surrenders the last geographical department
April 1865: Johnston surrenders the last active field army

And of course:
April 9, 1865: Lee surrenders at Appomattox.

And many others.

 

[USS ALASKA]

... that the insurrection which heretofore existed in the State of Texas is at an end and is to be henceforth so regarded in that State as in the other States before named in which the said insurrection was proclaimed to be at an end by the aforesaid proclamation of the 2nd day of April, 1866.

And I do further proclaim that the said insurrection is at an end and that peace, order, tranquillity, and civil authority now exist in and throughout the whole of the United States of America.

Proclamation 157—Declaring that Peace, Order, Tranquillity, and Civil Authority Now Exists in and Throughout the Whole of the United States of America | The American Presidency Project

www.presidency.ucsb.edu

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[CWdiaryPA]

2015 thread that may be of interest:

Did the American Civil War Ever End? | Civil War Potpourri

Disunion Did the American Civil War Ever End? By Ted Widmer June 4, 2015 12:41 pm June 4, 2015 12:41 pm Disunion follows the Civil War as it unfolded. Email Share Tweet Save More This story is included with an NYT Opinion subscription. Learn more » Photo A giant bust of Lincoln by the...

civilwartalk.com

 

[Zack]

July 15, 1870 when Georgia became the last state readmitted to the Union.

 

[The Ninth Ohio]

We discussed this is one of my graduate classes, reading Downs' After Appomattox. One of the arguments he makes is that the Johnson administration kept the war going (i.e. remaining in an official state of war) in order to take advantage of war powers. The entire period through Reconstruction was a struggle over what "ending the war" meant. Is it when the last battle was fought? When the last troops were recalled and demobilized? It's a near impossible question to answer and depends almost entirely on one's perspective and the time and place in which they live.

 

[GwilymT]

The 1964 Civil Rights Bill

 

[J. D. Stevens]

April 1865: Johnston surrenders the last active field army

I believe Rip Ford proved his force was active at The Battle of Palmito Ranch on May 12 & 13, 1865. Confederate and Texas State Troops of the Trans-Mississippi were still manning the forts along the Gulf Coast expecting a Federal invasion until late May.

May 1865: Smith surrenders the last geographical department

Kirby Smith officially surrendered the Trans-Mississippi on June 2, 1865. Although Stan Watie did not surrender his small brigade until June 23, technically, it was part of the Trans-Mississippi.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

The American Civil War is unusual in that it ended in neither a treaty nor a single armistice intended to embrace all fighting. In that regard Jefferson Davis was grievously negligent.

While issues tied to the war were resolved in 1865, those are political questions, not military ones. So Civil Rights might be the answer for when Reconstruction truly ended, but not the American Civil War.

If military occupation or readmission of states had to end to end the war then certain 20th century wars where the USA occupied the defeated opponent lasted decades past their widely accepted end. One could even argue the Spanish-American War never really ended because we still hold Guantanamo as a legacy of that war, or that the Filipino Insurrection didn't end until the Phillipines achieved full independence. To say nothing of countries where an occupation never ended. (Lots of 20th century examples we can't get into.)

I think the American Civil War ending should be defined as the end of military hostilities. That gives us the CSS Shenandoah, Watie, or EKS. The first was unknowingly rogue and should be discounted. Watie did not, to my knowledge, have authority to keep fighting. I'm not sure he actually engaged in any fighting after EKS surrendered? I'm inclined to say Edmund Kirby Smith surrendering marks the end if that war. At that point no Confederates had any authority to continue fighting; they simply hadn't gotten the news.

Guys hiding out in the jungle for decades refusing to surrender doesn't change the end of WW2 so I don't think the delayed surrender of Watie or CSS Shenandoah change the end of the war.

I discount Johnston's proclamation as simply being too long after the actual cessation of warfare.

 

[19thGeorgia]

When the Confeds were no longer accorded the rights of a belligerent (June 1865?).

Last meeting of Jeff Davis and cabinet (dissolution of the government).

 

[Dan Kohli]

I was going to say when the last hostile Confederate troops surrendered or died. Although it looks like some people have put this down in better words.

 

[OpnCoronet]

To me the operative word in the OP is 'official' and in that context, I think Post no. 2 by USSALASKA seems the best answer.

 

[GwilymT]

When the Confeds were no longer accorded the rights of a belligerent (June 1865?).

Last meeting of Jeff Davis and cabinet (dissolution of the government).

Do you mean by Britain?

 

[Borderruffian]

What date did Josey Wales kill Capt. "Redlegs" Terrell?

 

[Harms88]

I have always taken the 1866 Proclamation as being the end of the official end of the war. A more modern example I like to use is the 1918 Armistice for WWI. Most people consider it the end of the war, but technically, a state of war still existed until all the treaties were signed and concluded in 1919.

 

[LCYingling3rd]

Interesting. I always went with Stand Watie's June 23, 1865 surrender date because I always consider the "end of the war" as being the cessation of the military conflict. I like @Joshism's argument for Kirby Smith's June 2, 1865 surrender at Galveston though, and now agree with him. Like Bulloch's surrender of the Shenandoah at Liverpool ("The Last Shot" about the Shenandoah, by Lynn Schooler, is a great read though!), I can see how Watie's surrender was more symbolic of defiance than anything else.

The "end of the war" certainly does not mean the end of any "conflict" between supporters of the Confederacy and supporters of the Union to me. The concept of the end of the conflict between citizens who support the Confederacy and our Union is much more abstract to me. I often hear arguments like, "the Confederate government didn't surrender," and, "the North may have won the war, but the South won reconstruction." There are certainly abstract truths in comments like those, however, they are different from discussing the end of the "war."

 

[archieclement]

I'd go with Watie surrending the last organized ground force of size. Rest seem formalities after all armies have laid down arms as that would be the rather practical end.

 

[19thGeorgia]

Do you mean by Britain?

yes

 

[Stryker65]

I'd go with Watie surrending the last organized ground force of size. Rest seem formalities after all armies have laid down arms as that would be the rather practical end.

There is of course the CSS Shenandoah, as well

 

[archieclement]

There is of course the CSS Shenandoah, as well

Personally don't see why a Lone ship in international ship would affect the end of the ACW.

Why personally I'd go with last organized army laying down it arms in the US.

 

[jepridgen]

Personally don't see why a Lone ship in international ship would affect the end of the ACW.

Why personally I'd go with last organized army laying down it arms in the US.

I'd tend to agree with that. Since the Shenandoah wasn't going around raiding and fighting US ships in an organized attempt to keep the struggle going, I don't think you can count her surrender as an end to the war. Similarly, Waite wasn't carrying on the struggle for the Confederate States. He'd transitioned to making peace from the tribal perspective.