THIS MONTH IN AMERICAN MILITARY HISTORY
On April 9, 1865, almost 150 years ago, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to Union General Ulysses S. Grant in the front parlor of Wilmer McLeanâs home in Appomattox Court House, Virginia, ending the American Civil War (1861-65). Days earlier, Lee had abandoned the Confederate capital of Richmond and city of Petersburg, hoping to escape with the remnants of his Army of Northern Virginia, meet up with additional Confederate forces in North Carolina and resume fighting. When Union forces cut off his final retreat, Lee was forced to surrender, finally ending four years of bloody conflict.