Lee General Robert E. Lee and The Apple Tree

Buckeye Bill

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One of the oldest and most enduring myths is the myth of the surrender under the apple tree. This is a story that started with the soldiers themselves. It was carried on and largely believed by the soldiers that Lee surrendered under an apple tree. It was really Grant’s Memoirs that dispelled that myth. How did it come about? Lee and Grant were corresponding about the surrender. Lee asks Grant about terms. Grant will give generous terms. He basically says he will parole the army and allow them to go home. Gen. Lee receives the terms and writes back, changing the nature of the conversation, saying he didn’t think the occasion had arisen to surrender the army, but he would like to meet with General Grant to discuss peace. That’s a totally different subject. Grant gets the note late in the evening of April 8. He shows it to Rawlins, who says only Lincoln can discuss peace. Lee had proposed to meet the next morning on the Stage Road east of Appomattox Court House, between the lines. Lee rides out there. Grant isn’t there, but there’s a message from Grant. Grant is riding to the west to join with Gens. Ord and Sheridan. Grant’s message is they can’t meet to discuss peace. If you want peace, the way to do that is to surrender the army. Lee has received word from Gordon that he has “fought his corps to a frazzle.” Lee’s out of options so he writes to Grant asking for an interview to surrender the army. Grant is on a 22-mile ride that morning. The courier catches up to him and he reads it. Grant has a large contingent with him. He has his staff, the 3rd US Cavalry, and the 3rd West Virginia Cavalry with him. He designates Col. Orville Babcock and Lt. William McKee Dunn to ride and meet with Gen. Lee. By this time Lee has moved close to the Appomattox River and sat under an apple tree. When Babcock and Dunn arrive they pass through the lines to meet with Gen. Lee under this apple tree. The fighting has stopped, the confederate troops are on a hill behind General Lee, and they see two Federal officers ride up and go to General Lee under the apple tree. They had no idea it was Orville Babcock and not U.S. Grant. Eventually, Lee rides up into the village to meet at the McLean House, but the next time the confederate soldiers see General Lee they learn they had been surrendered. They mistakenly believe it was Grant and Lee under the apple tree.

~ Patrick Schroeder (2015)

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* Photo courtesy of William Bechmann (2016)
 
Legend or not, I seem to remember reading that soldiers in the field at Appomatox believed it to the extent that they pretty much decimated the supposed apple tree by collecting pieces of it for souvenirs.
 
Interesting post, thanks.

I'm getting nothing in searches for photographs of that appletree. For those of you who are more knowledgeable, was one never taken before the tree was taken down?

It is a shame if there isn't a photograph. It had historical significance, even though Grant and Lee never met there.
 
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