Posted on 04/09/2020 4:02:13 AM PDT by Bull Snipe
Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrenders the Army of Northern Virginia to Union Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant. Lee is the third Confederate General to surrender their army to Grant.
Thank you General George Armstrong Custer for making the day possible.
IIRC from my reading, Grant showed up in a dirty uniform, let Lee keep his sword, skipped the surrender ceremony, and let each rebel take one firearm home.
(Sorry-I couldn'resist it!)
“let each rebel take one firearm home.”
Not the case, enlisted men surrendered their fire arms.
Officers were allowed to keep their swords and pistols.
Those that served in artillery or cavalry units could take a horse or a mule.
Oh no, next you will be telling us that Grant did’t put a bow in his hair.
What to do now that it's done? Maybe catch a play?
After the surrender documents were signed, Grant's first substantial action was to send rations to the confederates, who desperately needed them.
The next big job was to formalize the parole of surrendered confederates. This required the federals to bring up printing presses and produce the documents. These then had to be signed, and union and confederate officers had to create duplicate lists to submit to the parole authorities of their respective governments. This had to be done before the final surrender ceremony, and it took a couple of days. Grant did not stick around for this. Though he travelled with the Army of the Potomac to keep a close eye on the Union's biggest chronic problem (R.E. Lee and the ANV, or the Army of the Potomac's instinct for defeating itself, or some combination thereof), he was commander of all the Union armies, NOT the Army of the Potomac. After the surrender terms were signed, he headed back to Washington to be in better touch with the various armies in other theaters. General Meade remained at Appomattox to deal with the final surrender details.
Grant showed up at the McLean House in a plain, dirty uniform because he had been riding all night. He had moved cross country to leave one wing of the Union army to join the other on a different road. (This was an encirclement with troops moving on widely separated routes.) In doing so, he had left his baggage wagon and most of his headquarters detail behind.
Neither Grant nor Lee were sticklers for uniform. Grant dressed plainly and Lee habitually wore a simple uniform with the rank insignia of a colonel. Lee took care to dress in his best uniform on this particular day because he expected to be Grant’s prisoner by nightfall. Grant’s generous terms, which were in keeping with Lincoln’s desires, were a pleasant surprise for him.
Piss on a Yankee day....
Patronize a loser day.
Don’t you mean “piss on a victorious Yankee day.”
Grant is one of my favorite historical people.
A victorious Republican Yankee Devil Dog.
And James Longstreet became one of Grants biggest supporters after the war.
He was a friend of Grant Before the war.
The Southerners tried to crucify Longstreet for that.
Five or six armies he commanded.
No other General in history up to Ike did that.
Lee said after the war, that he searched the world over for a general Grants equal, and could find none.
Haha !!! Are you refering to the battle of Cedar Creek ? (The most amazing little know battle of the war)
Nope.
“Custer was present in the front parlor of Wilmer McLean’s home on April 9, 1865, when Lee surrendered to Grant. General Philip Sheridan purchased the small spool-turned table used by Grant to draft and sign the terms of surrender and gave it to Libbie Custer in gratitude for her husband’s service. “Permit me to say, Madam,” Sheridan wrote to Libbie, “that there is scarcely an individual in our service who has contributed more to bring about this desirable result than your gallant husband.””
https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-george-armstrong-custer
Reminds me of an old song from the 1960s...The South Really Won the War. I can’t find the lyrics on line at all, but one stanza goes like this...
“The light was dim and it was hard for General Lee to see.
So he mistook General Grant to be his orderly.
General Lee gave General Grant his sword for him to clean.
General Lee was so surprised he said ‘What do you mean?’”
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