Download Battle of Appomattox Court House

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Date
Battle of Appomattox Court House
By Mary Lynn Bushong
At the beginning of April, one of the last remaining vestiges of the
Confederacy was Robert E. Lee and his small army. General Grant
forced them out of Petersburg and Richmond on April 2.
The Union army entered the two cities, looting and burning as they
went. Two days later, the newly re-elected President Lincoln entered the
Confederate White House.
Lee marched the remainder of his army south. The plan was to make
their way to Danville, North Carolina and meet up with General
Johnston's army. There they had planned to make a final stand together.
However, Grant moved his army too quickly and blocked Lee from being able to use the railroad as he had
planned. He changed direction, and they pushed on across country in an effort to reach Lynchburg, where there
was a supply depot.
On April 6, one quarter of Lee's army was captured at Saylor's Creek. He continued moving his remaining men
northwest and across the Appomattox River. The Union cavalry swung around them and blocked their way again.
The Confederates could advance no further. Lee had no other choice. He had to stop and face Grant's army.
Messages were sent back and forth between Grant's camp and Lee's. While Lee's army still numbered about
25,000 men, only about 8,000 of those could still take to the field. The others were wounded, exhausted, or too
weak from hunger to fight any longer. On Sunday, April 9, the two leaders met in the home of Wilmer McLean to
agree to terms.
Once the Confederate army actually surrendered, Grant had no interest in continuing to punish them. They were to
lay down their weapons. When they had signed a paper promising not to take up arms against the Union again,
they could go home in peace. The officer's side arms and the individual soldiers' personally-owned horses went
with their owners, but the flags were to be left behind. Many that had been followed for so long were carefully
tucked inside Confederate uniforms and carried home as heirlooms.
Having accomplished his goal, Grant was willing to be helpful. He ordered rations for the Confederates to be
delivered to that army the same day. When the surrender became official, some of Grant's soldiers began to
celebrate by shooting off their weapons. That was immediately stopped. The Confederates were no longer
adversaries, but countrymen.
Lee was assured that Lincoln wanted to help the South overcome the destruction of the war. He had many plans he
wanted to put into action. When he was assassinated, that changed. Andrew Johnson became president. He blamed
the South for all the destruction that occurred during the war, and he wanted to make them pay. Everything they
possessed were just spoils of war. Instead of having a respectful peace that bound the states together again, there
was a simmering anger in the South.
Name
Date
Battle of Appomattox Court House
Questions
1. What did Lee plan to do after leaving Petersburg?
A. Fight in North Carolina
B. Surrender
C. Get re-supplied in Lynchburg
D. Raid Grant's camp
2. If you were General Grant, what terms would you have imposed on the Confederate army?
3. Lee was unable to meet up with General Johnston because:
A. The railroads were blocked.
B. Lee's men were too weak to march.
C. The roads were blocked.
D. Johnston had already been defeated.
4. Why didn't General Grant allow his men to treat the Confederate soldiers like the losers in a war? Explain
whether you think his approach was right or wrong.
5. Union troops often looted towns they conquered.
A. True
B. False
6. Lee's men were living on little more than small amounts of parched corn. Explain how this would affect
their ability to march and fight.
7. What terms did Grant impose on the Confederates for their surrender?
A. They would not fight against the Union any more.
B. They would give up all their weapons.
C. They would not march as an army anymore.
D. All of the above.
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8. Many soldiers secretly kept their battle flags to take home with them. Why do you think they did this?
Lincoln felt that the South had been punished enough during the war. If he had lived, how might reconstruction
have been different?
Compare and contrast what Lincoln planned for the South and what actually happened under Johnson.