Posted on 04/09/2009 6:14:54 AM PDT by mainepatsfan
April 9, 1865 Lee surrenders
Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrenders his army to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.
For more than a week, Lee had tried to outrun Grant to the west of Richmond and Petersburg. After a ten-month siege of the two cities, the Union forces broke through the defenses and forced Lee to retreat. The Confederates moved along the Appomattox River, with Union General Phillip Sheridan shadowing them to the south. Lee's army had little food, and they began to desert in large numbers on the retreat. When Lee arrived at Appomattox, he found that his path was blocked. He had not choice but to request a meeting with Grant.
They met at a house in Appomattox at 2:00 p.m. on the afternoon of April 9. Lee was resplendent in his dress uniform and a fine sword at his side. Grant arrived wearing a simple soldier's coat that was muddy from his long ride. The great generals spoke of their service in the Mexican War, and then set about the business at hand. Grant offered generous terms. Officers could keep their side arms, and all men would be immediately released to return home. Any officers and enlisted men who owned horses could take them home, Grant said, to help put crops in the field and carry their families through the next winter. These terms, said Lee, would have "the best possible effect upon the men," and "will do much toward conciliating our people." The papers were signed and Lee prepared to return to his men.
In one of the great ironies of the war, the surrender took place in the parlor of Wilmer McClean's home. McClean had once lived along the banks of Bull Run, the site of the first major battle of the war in July 1861. Seeking refuge from the fighting, McClean decided to move out of the Washington-Richmond corridor to try to avoid the fighting that would surely take place there. He moved to Appomattox Court House only to see the war end in his home.
Although there were still Confederate armies in the field, the war was officially over. Four years of bloodshed had left a devastating mark on the country: 360,000 Union and 260,000 Confederate soldiers had perished during the Civil War.
I actually have all of that in my books, but in a word, overwhelming.
The Confederates were beaten down to almost nothing at the end had virtually nothing left but their lives.
There were not 2 spare miles of RR track in the entire Confederacy at the end.
Earlier, Sherman predicted that it would end that way.
The Union, on the other hand, benefited greatly from the Civil War, in an industrial sense.
The US industries were already starting to boom, but the war gave them a real kick in the pants.
That same war ground the CSA into the dirt.
Still it was a great testament to unflagging devotion to the cause. On both sides.
If I could muster 1/10 of that character today, we could succeed from this quagmire.
And how do you justify all the death and destruction the South brought upon itself in its losing cause?
Lee had lost a fairly large piece of his army [including Ewell and other generals] at Saylor’s Creek during the retreat. His retreat west was initially cut off by Union cavalry, but an infantry corps came up and sealed him off. I believe Lee was down to approximately 30,000 give or take, maybe 40,000 tops. Grant had probably 50,000 or more [Sheridan alone had three divisions of Cavalry]
Johnston surrendered to Sherman after Lee surrendered to Grant. The Trans-Mississippi surrendered after that.
What was "preservered"?
Actually, General Lee never really surrendered. You see, he showed up to have a little chat and discuss Grant’s options. Lee was greeted at the door by a stately figure he presumed to be the butler. He handed the man his hat and sword.
When he realized that man was in fact, Ulysses Grant, he was too much of a gentlemen to dampen the ensuing celebration.
The saddest day in the history of our Constitutional Republic. The day the Constitution died....
I don’t have the exact numbers but in the Appomattox Campaign that led up to the Army of Northern Virginia’s surrender, Grant had Lee massively outnumbered in every possible measure—infantry, cavalry, artillery, supplies, everything. Plus, a few days before the surrender, part of Lee’s army had been cut off, trapped, and forced to surrender at Sayler’s Creek.
I grew up 25 miles from Appomattox and have been there many times. We learned this stuff, through osmosis if nothing else. :)
}:-)4
I am sure the Reich High Command had the same type thoughts about Poland in 1940.
The country, Oh Southron whiner. And I'd point out that if you have a problem with confiscatory income taxes and fiat money then you must really have problems with Jeff Davis. Also, that gay marriage is a state issue, with local courts being the ones to legalize it and state Constitutions being the vehicle to ban it. My own state of Kansas, for example, and my neighboring state of Missouri have both amended their Constitutions to ban gay marriage and I applaud their arriving at the correct solution. And speaking of state's right, abortion should be one as well, but the Supreme Court stepped in on that one with their 'right to privacy' findings. But you're really not that big on the whole "state's rights" issue, are you?
I'm sure they did. Are you saying that Nazi Germany and the confederacy started their wars for the same reason?
lol
How so?
Thanks. hey, did any y'all read "Gettysburg" by Newt Gingrinch? Great historical novel about that campaign with a different ending.
The other two books in the series are just as good.
Titles?
All by Newt?
“Grant Comes East” and “Never Call Retreat” both by Gingrich and Forstchen.
I’m partial to the scene of the climatic battle in the final book because I lived there for a year.
Oh it's a good story and I enjoyed all three. Like most alternate history you have to suspend your beliefs just a bit. But they did a good job on it. I haven't read any of their other stuff - didn't they do an alternate history where Japan took Hawaii after Pearl Harbor?
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