It is important to the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park because of its association with the site where the surrender of the Confederate Army under Robert E. Lee to Union commander Ulysses S. Grant took place on April 9, 1865 with their major commanders. On that morning Brigadier General Joshua Chamberlain's Union infantry advancing through the village was halted on the outskirts of town. As his right flank reached the Mariah Wright house, a flag of truce came out from the Confederate lines. General George Armstrong Custer of Little Bighorn fame received the flag.