Battle of Appomattox Courthouse

Battle of Appomattox Court House
Part of the American Civil War
A print showing Union Army general Ulysses S. Grant accepting Confederate general Robert E. Lee's surrender in 1865.
Date April 9, 1865 (1865-04-09) Location Appomattox Court House, Virginia 37°22′40″N 78°47′40″W / 37.37778°N 78.79444°W / 37.37778; -78.79444Coordinates: 37°22′40″N 78°47′40″W / 37.37778°N 78.79444°W / 37.37778; -78.79444 Result Decisive Union victory: Surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia
Belligerents
United States (Union)	CSA (Confederacy)
Commanders and leaders
Ulysses S. Grant George G. Meade	Robert E. Lee
Units involved
Army of the Potomac	Army of Northern Virginia
Strength
150,000	∼ 28,000
Casualties and losses
164	∼ 500 killed and wounded; 27,805 surrendered and paroled

Decisive Union victory:

The Battle of Appomattox Court House, fought on the morning of April 9, 1865, was one of the last battles of the American Civil War. It was the final engagement of Confederate Army general Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia before it surrendered to the Union Army under Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. Lee, having abandoned the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, after the ten-month Siege of Petersburg, retreated west, hoping to join his army with the Confederate forces in North Carolina. Union forces pursued and cut off the Confederate's retreat at the village of Appomattox Court House. Lee launched an attack to break through the Union force to his front, assuming the Union force consisted entirely of cavalry. When he realized that the cavalry was backed up by two corps of Union infantry, he had no choice but to surrender.

The signing of the surrender documents occurred in the parlor of the house owned by Wilmer McLean on the afternoon of April 9. On April 12, a formal ceremony marked the disbandment of the Army of Northern Virginia and the parole of its officers and men, effectively ending the war in Virginia. This event triggered a series of surrenders across the South, signaling the end of the war.

The final campaign for Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederate States, began when the Union Army of the Potomac crossed the James River in June 1864. The armies under the command of Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant laid siege to Petersburg and Richmond, intending to cut the two cities' supply lines and force the Confederates to evacuate. In the spring of 1865 Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee waited for an opportunity to leave the Petersburg lines, aware that the position was untenable, but Union troops made the first move. On April 1, 1865, Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan's cavalry turned Lee's flank at the Battle of Five Forks. The next day Grant's army achieved a decisive breakthrough, effectively ending the Petersburg siege. With supply lines cut, Lee's men abandoned the trenches they had held for ten months and evacuated on the night of April 2–3.

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