Appomattox Day Observed

GRANT, LEE

Posted By: Ken Wright (email)
Date: 11/26/2007 at 00:09:27

Maquoketa Excelsior
April 9, 1929

Appomattox Day Observed

Appomattox Day, April 9, has been observed by various Grand Army posts and Woman’s Relief Corps groups throughout the north, though not all groups in these orders have celebrated the day.

Appomattox Day means to the soldier of the Civil War what Armistice Day means to the World War veteran, the virtual end of the war.

It will be remembered that General Grant, acting commander-in-chief of the federal army, had had his men before Richmond, the confederacy’s capital, for months, in the winter of 1864-65. General Robert E. Lee seemed firmly entrenched in the city, and the residents of the city felt secure.

On a bright and quiet spring Sabbath morning, while Jefferson Davis, then president of the confederacy, sat at worship in a church in the city, he received a message from General Lee, saying, “My army is broken in three places. Richmond must be evacuated this evening.” General Lee’s message was a surprise, even to the president of the confederacy. He left the church hastily, and the news spread rapidly throughout the city.

Pack trains were hastily gotten ready, and the army and civilians alike gathered their belongings together and hastened from the place. The city was fired by command of the army officers, and when the red glare of the burning metropolis lightened the sky at night, General Grant’s army was convinced that Lee had retreated, though it was not until morning that the belief was confirmed, when fleeing negroes entered the army lines and told what had happened. The ground in front of the federal army was filled with bombs, and procedure had to be slow, until the mines were all cleared out. The confederates had gone so fast that they had forgotten to take down the red signs that warned themselves of the dangerous mines and the federal proceeded with safety.

General Lee hoped to reach the mountains of Virginia, meet some of the other confederate groups, and make a strong resistance against the advance of the federal army. General Sheridan cut off his retreat, however, and when General Lee received a communication, April 7, from General Grant, suggesting that they should discuss terms of peace, the southern leader was ready to consider the matter. On April 8, he wrote to General Grant, assuring him that while he did not feel that the time had come which warranted a discussion of surrender of the army still he was anxious to discuss terms which would step further bloodshed. General Grant replied that he would consider only the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia and the confederate general waited until the following day, when he finally consented to discuss terms of surrender.

On April 9, the confederate army of Northern Virginia surrendered their field guns and other munition and received, in turn, parole from General U.S. Grant, who on their promise not to take up arms again against the federal government allowed them to take their private horses, their baggage, and their side arms, and return to their homes.

The Civil war was virtually at an end, for with General Lee, the flower of the Southern army vanquished, little remained but to complete the disarmament of the South.

So Appomattox Day is remembered by the veterans of the Civil war and their auxiliary members as the end of the war, and it is observed by these orders as a patriotic day, with programs, dinners and other means of keeping before the public the significance of that day.