MERCY AT APPOMATTOX (MEETING OF GRANT AND LEE) By Kimberly Shaffer
Links by Christy Baldwin
It was April 9th, and Lee sent his aide, Lt. Col. Charles Marshall to go to a nearby village called Appomattox. It was here that he was supposed to find a suitable place for Grant and Lee to meet. Colonel Marshall hopped on his horse and rode into town on Palm Sunday. When he arrived, he found that everything was closed, including the Court House. At this time, there were approximately one hundred people who lived in the village and about half of them were slaves. When the white home owners heard the rumbles of the army, they fled from the village. Wilmer McLean, a merchant in the village stayed behind and Colonel Marshall asked him, "Please, will you permit General Grant and Lee to meet at your house for the meeting of the surrender of the war?"
Lee was the first man to arrive at McLean's house in full dress uniform, while Grant arrived wearing his customary field uniform. The two men walked into the parlor of McLean's and sat down and chatted about their Army days in the Mexican War. Lee then said, "I think we need to get to the object of our present day meeting". Grant suddenly took a piece of paper that was in front of him and wrote out the terms of surrender. After discussing the terms of surrender, Lee said, "This will make my army very happy". The two men talked about the keeping of the horses, so the men who owned small farms would have something to use to put the crops in. Lee told Grant that he would return the Union prisoners, because he had no provisions for them. Grant accepted and then said, "I will send 25,000 rations to your army". The men stood up, shook hands and then went on their merry way. News traveled quickly to the Union headquarters, and touched off a spree of cannon firing. Grant immediately told his men, "The war is over and the rebels are our countrymen again". The men immediately took the rationed food to the other army that had gone long without.
On April 12, exactly four years after the attack on Fort Sumter, Lee's Confederate troops marched in and stacked their arms. It was here that Joshua L. Chamberlain, a Union General received the terms of surrender. Now, with his soldiers standing at attention, General Chamberlain watched the first ragged Confederate soldiers coming up the road. These soldiers were being led by General John B. Gordon. From early morning until late afternoon the saluting soldiers from the south marched past the saluting soldiers of the Union, stacked their rifles, the tattered Confederate flags and started home. That day at Appomattox Court House, there were almost 100,000 men and just a few days later they were all gone. The village of Appomattox is not where the final battle took place, it is the site of the reconciliation of our country and where the generous terms were offered by Grant and accepted by Lee. Appomattox is the place where the Civil War ended.
1. Who was the meeting between at Appomattox? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________
2. What was the name of the man who allowed the meeting to take place at his house? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________
3. Who rode to the village to find a place for the meeting? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________
4. Why is the village of Appomattox famous? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________
5. How long did the Civil War last? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________
6. What General accepted the terms of surrender at Appomattox? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________
"Mercy at Appomattox" OUTLINE
I. April 9, Lee sent Lt. Col. Charles Marshall to Appomattox
II. Wilmer McLean the merchant allowed the meeting to take place at his home.
III. Terms of surrender
IV. Returning of the prisoners and the ration of food
V. April 12, 4yrs. after the attack on Fort Sumter, the meeting of the soldiers
VI. Joshua L. Chamberlain-Union General accepted terms of surrender
VII. Soldiers being led by General John B. Gordon
VIII. Reconciliation of the country
ANSWERS
1. Lee and Grant
2. Wilmer McLean
3. Lt. Col. Charles Marshall
4. The reconciliation of the country
5. 4 years
6. Joshua L. Chamberlain- Union General
SOURCES Zinsser, William. Readers Digest. December, 1994. Pg. 93-96.
LESSON EXTENSION Have the students create a diagram of the Village of Appomattox.