Appomatox

On April 9, 1865 Robert E. Lee surrendered his men to Ulysses S. Grant in what is now Appomatox Court House National Historical Park.  Lee's surrender signaled the end of the Southern states' attempt to create a separate nation.  This may have  taken place over 150 years ago, but being there today opened our eyes to how destructive war can be and how people lived from day to day during that time.  We now have a better understanding of this War, the honorable terms of the surrender and how this war and the surrender affected our nation then and today.

We began our tour of the Park (approximately 31 buildings) by listening to a 15 minute video and then walking with a Ranger through the Park as he explained the details of the conflict leading up to the surrender.  Very interesting.   The quiet, stillness and the devastation of the events not only here but at all the battle grounds we have been to recently, made us stop to think and consider what might have happened had Lee not surrendered.

While the Appomatox Court House building was here at the time of the War and events did take place around it,

the surrender  actually took place at the McLean home shown below.  The other buildings below are the kitchen and the slave quarters.

The inside of the slave quarters.

Down the road a short distance from the Park is a small Confederate cemetery which holds the graves of one Northern soldier and 18 Southern soldiers who were killed on April 8 and 9.

We took a break from all the thought provoking issues associated with visiting the Park to have lunch at the Babcock House B & B which was recommended to us.  The house was built in 1884, has six guest rooms and is furnished with period antiques.  Lunch was delicious and very reasonable.

Our last stop for the day was at the Museum of the Confederacy in Appomatox which was very interesting.  The Museum interweaves stories of the Confederate government, the military, civilians and enslaved and free African Americans along with a very comprehensive collection of artifacts and documents from the period including the frock coat and sword that Lee wore to the surrender.

Tomorrow we will leave here for Waynesboro where we will stay for at least a week while visiting Kathy's son and family and taking in the local history sites from that area.