Appomattox Courthouse, VA

Appomattox Courthouse was the Appomattox county seat in April 1865 when it was thrust into the annuals of history.


The rebuilt Court House serves now as the visitor center.

What was the town is now a National Historic Park established in 1954.  When the railroad by-passed this spot, the town moved with it, calling itself Appomattox Station.  Many of the buildings remained to be renovated by the National Park Service except for the Court House which had burned down and the McLean House where the meeting between Lee and Grant took place.  The latter had been dismantled after the Civil War with expectations it would be moved to Washington, D.C. as a war museum.  That never happened and the pile of timber and bricks that had been the house disappeared over time.

The McLean House, reconstructed on its original footprint.

When you visit Appomattox Courthouse you are transported back in time to 1865.


Meeks store.


Clover Hill tavern

 Slave Quarters

The Confederate troops under Robert E. Lee are in retreat, trying to get to North Carolina having lost Richmond to the Union forces under Ulysses S. Grant.  The Rebels arrive outside of Appomattox hoping to get terribly needed supplies by rail at Appomattox Station.  The Union forces cut off that chance and the Southern forces find themselves in a tight spot.  Do they fight their way out?  Do they disband and become guerrillas as President Davis suggests?  Or do they surrender?  Lee tries the first option unsuccessfully.  Discards the second option.  And then sends out a white flag to Grant.

Appomattox Courthouse is selected as the meeting place and Lee's staff asked the owner of the McLean House if they can use his parlor.



An end to the long Civil War is now in sight.

Lee accepts Grant's terms that had been worked out with President Lincoln earlier.  The generous terms were part of the process to begin unification.

A silent witness to the surrender gathered up by a Union officer afterward and returned by his descendants.

 The Richmond-Lynchburg Road that went through this sleepy town was where the formal surrender of weapons took place in front of the lines of Union forces.

After the surrender the town was occupied by Union forces that became the local government.

Here is one such soldier who told us he was ready to return home to Pittsburgh.

He was bored with occupation.

His counterparts in the Confederacy have taken their passes and headed for home.  

Many walking along this road.