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After four long years of fighting, the Confederacy realized that it was losing. they realized that they were outnumbered and less developed technologically. The Confederacy was also tired of fighting. The countless marches and numerous battles tired even th bravest soul. At Appomattox the Civil War ended and the union was preserved.
Appomattox
In Virginia, Grant achieved what he was sent to do. In April 1865, he turned Lee's right flank of troops and captured the railroads supplying Richmond. The Confederate forces evacuated Petersburg and Richmond because the North did not allow any supplies to get through to the cities. Lee retreated westward, hoping to join forces with Johnston in North Carolina. Grant barred his way and overtook him. Representatives of the Confederate and Union governments tried to arrange for peace on February 3, but they tried unsuccessfully. Lee realized that continued fighting would mean more and useless sacrifice of life. He wrote Grant pleading for an interview to arrange surrender terms.
On Sunday, April 9, 1865, at about 1:00 p.m. the two generals met in a farmhouse at the little country settlement of Appomattox Court House, Virginia. The owner of the house was Wilmer McLean, whose former home was turned into Beauregard's headquarters during the First Battle of Bull Run. McLean moved his home south to avoid the fighting.
At McLean's house Grant wore a mud-spattered private's coat with only his shoulder straps revealing his rank. Lee had a spotless new uniform complete with sword. Lee said, "I'll probably have to be General Grant's prisoner and thought I must make my best appearance." Grant offered generous terms, and Lee accepted them with appreciation. The Confederate soldiers received a day's rations and were released on parole. They were allowed to keep their horses, and officers were allowed to keep their side arms. As Lee made his last ride down the lines of troops on his famous horse, Traveller, he told his army, "Men, we have fought through the war together. I have done my best for you; my heart is too full to say more."
News during the late 1800s travelled slowly so the event at Appomattox did not reach North Carolina until April 26. Immediately Johnston surrendered to Sherman near Durham. Jefferson Davis fled southward, and was later captured in Georgia. On May 4, General Richard Taylor surrendered the Confederate forces in Mississippi and Alabama. General Edmund Kirby Smith surrendered the last Confederate army still in the field on May 26. Commander James T. Waddell of the C.S.S. Shenandoah did not learn that the war was over until early August. He immediately dismounted all his guns and sailed for England. The ship had been purchased from England by the South.
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