Lee surrenders at Appomattox

[CMWinkler]

Lee surrenders at Appomattox

My namesake was paroled on this date, April 9, 1865.

 

[Greg Taylor]

Grant's boots need polishing!

 

[Nathanb1]

Funny how we get so caught up in other stuff. I was reviewing the 8th grade on the Civil War unit today and just wrote "Place of Surrender and Date" on the board. Then when someone said April 9, I literally jumped and looked at the date written on the board..."Oh....today!" Luckily my kids are more on track than I am (although a couple had a problem figuring out it was 148 years ago today!)

 

[CMWinkler]

 

[CMWinkler]

 

[Greg Taylor]

Lee surrenders at Appomattox

My namesake was paroled on this date, April 9, 1865.

General Grant was very generous with his surrender terms, but not as generous as Sherman and his surrender terms with Gen Joseph E. Johnston.

 

[ole]

Never did figure out how Sherman got his butt handed to him and Grant didn't. Could it be that Lincoln was no longer alive?

 

[Fran]

Such a memorable day 150 years ago. Time flies, changes occur but lets not forget this war.

 

[Robert Gray]

The Wilmer Mclean house where the surrender took place.

 

[diane]

Never did figure out how Sherman got his butt handed to him and Grant didn't. Could it be that Lincoln was no longer alive?

That was very much true - Lincoln might have tweaked it a little but considered the overall agreement good. But it was his assassination that made Sherman's proposal unpalatable to the Johnson administration. Sherman's agreement contained items that Grant's didn't. His recognized the state governments - meaning the ones in place under the Confederacy - and also granted amnesty to everybody but the highest civilians. It also covered restoration of federal courts, arms deposited in the state arsenals and no one would be on parole. Congress rejected this and a basic military surrender was then negotiated. Davis ordered Johnston to reject these terms, withdraw from negotiations and take off with his mounted troops. Johnston was more realistic about the success of such an action and could read the writing on the wall pretty clearly - he accepted the revised surrender terms.

Grant had, after all, taken Lee's surrender. He could have handed Lee a bouquet of roses and said just go your way in peace and good will, all is as it was before, and nobody would have faulted him! Lee was the one everything else hinged on. Once he went down, the whole shebang was coming down.