8 7 Village of Appomattox Court House, 1954. The Village the office and museum open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Markers at points of interest The village of Appomattox Court House, are shown on the map in this folder. Groups also formerly known as Clover Hill, developed may receive special service if advance ar­ around the Clover Hill Tavern. This tavern rangements are made with the superintendent. was built in 1819 as a stop on the Richmond- An illustrated 16-page booklet is available Lynchburg Stage Road. When Appomattox at the park or from the Superintendent of County was established in 1845, Clover Hill Documents, Washington, D.C., for 10 cents. became the county seat. By the time of the Civil War, the town consisted of the tavern Administration and two brick annexes, the courthouse, law offices, blacksmith shops, stores, and several In April 1940, as authorized by Congress, residences. The McLean House was built in Appomattox Court House National Historical 1848 by Charles Raine. Wilmer McLean pur­ Monument was established to commemorate chased it in 1863. the end of the Civil War; it became a Na­ tional Historical Park in 1954. The park In 1892, fire destroyed the courthouse, and l comprises about i /2 square miles, including the county seat soon moved to the nearby the old village of Appomattox Court House. growing town of Appomattox. The follow­ The park is administered by the National ing year, the McLean House was dismantled Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. for reerection in Washington, D. C, as a war A superintendent, whose address is Appomat­ museum. The project never came to fruition. tox, Va., is in immediate charge. Gradually, the wood and brick stored at the site of the house disintegrated or disappeared. Mission 66 The present McLean House is a faithful re­ construction on the original site. Eventually, Mission 66 is a program designed to be it is hoped the village can be brought to re­ completed by 1966 which will assure the semble its 1865 appearance. maximum protection of the scenic, scientific, wilderness, and historic resources of the Na­ About Your Visit tional Park System in such ways and by such means as will make them available for the The park is 3 miles northeast of Appomat­ use and enjoyment of present and future tox, Va., on State Route 24. You will find generations. The National Park System, of which this area is a unit, is dedicated to conserving the scenic, scientific, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR and historic heritage of the United States for the benefit and inspiration of its people. Fred A. Seaton, Secretary Cover: From the painting "Lee's Surrender at Appomattox," by J. L. G. Ferris, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Conrad L. Wirth, Director in the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Reprint 1959 U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFE1CE : 1959—0-517586 supplies from Danville awaited his ex­ the field of battle. While an informal truce hausted and ragged men. He had to get to brought quiet along the battleline, General Appomattox these supplies if he were to continue on. The Lee sought to arrange a meeting to discuss the desperate Confederates seemed on the verge terms under which he might surrender his of success on April 8 when they halted for the army. The alternative seemed to be more night just east of Appomattox Court House. futile bloodshed and the destruction in battle But as darkness settled, they read their doom of his diminished forces. Court House in the night skies. To the west they saw the A messenger finally found Grant and his flash of artillery and to the south the flicker staff some miles away on a road. Grant turned of campfires. Again, and for the last time, his famous big black horse "Cincinnati" to­ NATIONAL HISTORICAL they were cut off. ward the village. Already his representative, That night in a council of war, Lee and his Lt. Col. Orville E. Babcock, had joined Col. generals decided they would try to break Charles Marshall, Lee's aide, and the great PARK through in the morning if the enemy in front Confederate general himself in a house which Clover Hill Tavern, April 1865. Courtesy McLean House, 1865. Courtesy Signal Corps, of them were cavalry. If daylight disclosed Colonel Marshall thought suitable for the Library of Congress. U. S. Army. strong enemy infantry forces blocking the meeting. There they waited for the Union commander. Here General Lee surrendered the Confederate Army of Northern Lynchburg road in their front, then they felt Memories of those desperate, bloody battles ing respectfully with bared heads. Manassas, About 1:30 p. m., Grant reached the edge that followed the meeting engagement in the Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness— Virginia to General Grant. This brought the Civil War to an end that all plans most likely would fail. The morrow would tell. of Appomattox Court House. He paused to Wilderness on May 5 the preceding year must all had but led to this. Sergeant Tucker On Palm Sunday, April 9, 1865, Gen. Robert The retreating Confederates were to rendez­ ask a group of Union officers assembled there have raced through his mind as he faced the brought up "Traveller," the big iron-gray E. Lee surrendered the most renowned and vous at Amelia Courthouse, northwest of The Surrender if Lee were present. One of them replied, northern general. Lee was dressed in an im­ horse. Rousing himself suddenly, Lee swung successful of all Confederate armies to Gen. Petersburg. There they expected to receive "Yes, in that brick house," pointing to a red­ maculate uniform. His sword was buckled into the saddle, raised his hat, and rode out Just after first light on Palm Sunday, April brick structure in a locust grove. Grant Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, supplies coming by rail from Danville. The 9, Lee started his attack across the fields at to his side. Standing there poised and out­ of the village. Back across the Appomattox walked his horse to the house and dismounted. Va. This assured the end of the 4-year Civil supply train, however, had gone on into Rich­ the western edge of the village. The Confed­ wardly calm, Lee left an imperishable picture River he went to tell his soldiers that he had War between the North and the South. The mond, and the weary, downhearted troops erate soldiery brushed aside a thin line of He wore the uniform of a common soldier, of a gentleman-soldier. surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia. subsequent reunification of the country was lost a day in foraging. Many soldiers left the Union cavalry. Beyond, they came upon a which had tacked on it the soiled shoulder Grant had his own grandeur, too, as the Paroles were printed and other necessary a profound historic event. It has had an en­ ranks at this time and went home. They felt more formidable foe—strong formations of straps of a lieutenant general. His boots and ensuing moments were to bring out. The arrangements made to receive the surrender of during effect on the internal development and the war was about over. And their families blue-coated infantry. There was their answer! uniform were mud-spattered. As usual, he two men sat in McLean's parlor, talking of the Confederate Army. Three days after the domestic life of our country. Equally great needed them. The Union turning column had by forced wore no sword—it was only an encumbrance the Mexican War and old army days. Grant's meeting in McLean's house, Lee's veterans has been its effect of our country's place in Grant pressed the pursuit hard. One of his marches won the race to Appomattox Station. and he had no use for it. Grant climbed the staff officers who had entered with him re­ marched for the last time as a unit of the world affairs and, accordingly, upon the des­ columns followed the path of the Confed­ From there it had turned east to support the 'steps of the McLean House. Two years ear­ mained at a respectful distance, lining the walls Confederate Army. On April 12 the men in Union cavalry and meet the oncoming Con­ tiny of other nations. For with the States erate Army. Another swung left and south lier, Wilmer McLean had left Manassas to of the room. After a time, Lee turned the gray filed across the shallow ford at the Ap­ federates. In the skirmishing that followed, reunited under one government, the United and cut Lee's line of retreat at Jetersville, 7 escape the war; now the war was to end in conversation to the business at hand. Grant pomattox River and up the steep hill past lines the Union infantry advanced to the outskirts States of America grew to world power and his parlor. of blue-clad infantry. At the eastern edge of miles west of Amelia. This effectively blocked of Appomattox Court House by 10 a. m. with quiet humility offered surrender terms leadership. Inside, Lee rose to meet the man whose the village they laid down their arms. There the Confederate route to the railroad junction General Lee now faced his last decision on generous in every way. Officers could keep at Burkeville. Lee turned right and headed armies he had fended off for nearly a year. their sidearms and horses. Men in the rank were 28,231 Confederates paroled at Appo­ Prelude to Appomattox north toward Farmville. On the way, 6,000 and file who owned horses or mules could mattox Court House.