The Appomattox Court House

The site of the Appomattox Court House, in Appomattox Station, is the east coasts most compelling ghost town. While a poplar site for Civil War buffs, it is all who died, and the causes that died with them, that still have a firm grip on this town.

Located between Richmond and Lynchburg, Appomattox Court House is a cluster of log and brick buildings that are from the Civil War era. It was here that the Confederate Army put up its last fight; it was here that General Lee conceded defeat to General Grant, and it was here that the United States of America started to become united again.

The North and South, it could be argued, were obviously very different regions with different perspectives, values, and cultures long before the Civil War. Determined never again to have such a drastic split between the country over ideals, the events that unfolded at Appomattox laid the foundation for a strong bond to form so that fratricide would never occur again on American shores.

In spring of 1865, Lee’s Confederate army was a sorry bunch: hungry, tired, poor, broken, grumpy mass of men that had been under siege from Grant for the previous 10 months in Petersburg. The men under these dire conditions were not able to hold Petersburg, and once Grant had control of Peterburg, the buffer zone to Richmond (the Confederates capital) was nonexistent. While resident in Richmond looted, pillaged, and set fire to the city before evacuating in terror, Lee and his Army went to Appomattox to regroup and get fresh supplies. Through a bureaucratic error, there were no supplies waiting for him at Appomattox, and Grant and the Union Army were on Lee’s doorstep. Outnumbered, under supplied, under fed, Lee knew he would have to surrender in order to spare his men their lives. When Grant sent a messenger to Lee saying that even he knew all was hopeless for the Confederates, Lee succinctly replied that he wasn’t sure about hopeless, but did want to hear Grant’s terms of surrender.

Even throughout the surrendering process, Lee and Grant did not refer to its as “surrender”, but as “restoration of peace”. Lee knew history would judge him harshly, and he knew most likely that his reasons for fighting would be twisted and skewed (contrary to popular belief, the South never did fight to keep slavery, but rather, fought on the principles of State’s Rights. The North did not originally fight to free slaves, as many people believe, but later used it as a rallying objective - the original point was Federal Rights. ). However, he firmly did agree that this war scarred the nation deeply, and that his men were fighting for a lost cause. After signing the terms of surrender, which were very generous, Lee told his army that he “…done the best I could for you. Goodbye”.

There were no celebrations or gloating, for reformation took place almost right away. The South was part of the country again, and they were immediately treated as such. Lee was not treated like a prisoner of war, but lived out his days on one of his houses in Virginia. Grant went on to become a United States President. All slaves were officially, unequivocally, free.

At the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, visitors get to see the parlor where the Civil War ended, and visitors get to tour the town which has been reconstructed very authentically. Besides the Civil War buildings around Appomattox Station, there is the Sweeny Cabin, where a young boy named Joel Sweeny invented the first ever authentic, original, American instrument – the five string banjo.

While the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park in Appomattox Station is dedicated to civil war and antebellum history, the actual town of Appomattox has places to eat and stay, as featured in our “Places to Stay” and “Places to Eat” options on our homepage.




Virginia Tourists Guide - Appomattox Court House