Omaha daily bee., 1922-05-02
Scene al Appomattor
Lees Surrender Was Not Under
Apple ffsss But Beneath 4 Roof,
tffem tho Washington slsr)

4 ftosh INC Warrington sta,l
| pne ~ Tie tueidfnls 0i tie observance ai the
ssnisRaTy Of ihs birth ai Gsn. Grant i a revival
I 81 tic APpamallaN apple tree story. IL ias hgen
| leh mlllieH times and believed By millions at
men, There is very little fact 20 support the
story, Grant and Lee did not meet under al
/ apple tree OF 10 an spple orchard Their only
meeting was IN The paFloT Of the house OF Wilmer
| Mclean ~ the village Of ApP0maltaK Court
/ House and that meeting lasted from 80 10 4
| f. M, April ., 1895.
Correspondence had been passing between
Grant and Lee treating Of the question oi sur
render ioF two dave, Grant opened eommunea-
lion with Lee IN . letter sent from his head
quarters AZ tafmsillr isw miles east oi An-
| poma,ios, late In the afternoon Of April T. That
| letter follows.
"Gen. X, Z. Lee. commanding c, s A.; The
results OF last week mus, convince sou ot the
iiopslessness OF further resistance on the part Of
The Army OF Northern Virginia IL this struggle.
! teei that Il is 50, and regard i as my duty TO
shift from myself the responsibility oi any iuF-
lher eiusion oi blood by asking ol YOU the sur'
render Of that portion Of the confederate states
army known as the Army OF Northern Virginia,
~. 5, GRANT. Lieutenant General"
Early 'in the night Of April Lee sent the FOL.
loving letter TO Grant,
general: | have received your note oi this
date. Though not entertaining the opinion YOU
express OF the hopelessness al further resistance
on the part OF the Army OF Northern Virginia.
reeipFocale your desire 10 avoid useless eiiuson
OF blood. aud therefore, before considering your
proposition. ask the terms you will offer on eon-
dtion OF lis surrender
"R. Z. LEE General"
Grant sent a letter on the morning OF April
IN which he said:
peace being my great desire, thsFe is bu,
one condition ] would insist upon, namely. that
the men aud officers surrendered shall be dis
...s, fta
ernment OF the United States until properly ex-
changed. | will meet you or will designate OF
fcers 10 meet any officers you may name, Tor the
same purpose al any point agreeable 10 you Tor
the purpose oi arranging definitely the terms
upon which the surrender OF the Army OF North
ern Virginia will be received"
Other notes passed between Lee and Grant
on April 8. There was proposal 10 meet be-
tween the picket lines OF the armies, but ior
some unexplained reason the meeting did not
take place.
In the forenoon OF April Grant was on the
road leading from Farmyihc to Appomattox when
he was handed the following letter from Lee:
II received your note this morning on the
picket line whittier ] had gone to meet you and
ascertain definitely what terms were embraced
in your proposal OF yesterday with reference TO
ae surrender of this army. now ask an inter
view in accordance with the offer contained III
Grant answered that he was then on the
Farmvlle-A Appomattox-Lynchburg road four
miles west OF Walkers Church, and that he would
push forward to the front for the meeting Col.
Babcock of his staff was the bearer OF this letter,
and he came upon Lee resting by the roadside
on blanket There was an old rail ience along
the road, and OIL the other side of the fence from
Lee was an apple orchard. The place OF meeting
was about a mile east OF the court house. Lee
agreed TO meet Grant at Appomatox Court
House, and Babcock sent note TO this effect TO
Grant by an orderly.
Lee, Col. Marshall and Col Babcock then
rode TO the Village OF Appomattox and entered
the first house they came to. 1t was little
shacklike house that disappeared many years ago.
Wilmer Mclean approached the officers and Of
fered the use of his house, the largest and best
in the settlement. The offer was accepted, and
Lee, Babcock and Marshall went into the parlor
and talked on general topics. In half an hour
Grant, his staff and other union officers rode up,
left their horses with orderlies in the road in
front of the Mclean house and entered. The
only confederates present were Lee and Mar
shall. The federals with Grant were Gems. Sheri-
dan, Edward O. c. Ord Rufus ingalls,,
ard, Merritt and Custer, and Coils. Horace Por-
ter Orville E. Babcock, Ely S. Parker, Theodore
S. Bowers, Frederick I. Dent and Adam Badeau.
The terms OF surrender were written in that
room by Col. Marshall as dictated by Grant.
Only one modification was made This was that
enlisted men of the confederate artillery and cav
airy might retain their horses. Grant had not
known that the southern cavalrymen and artl-
lerymen owned the horses they used i'll the serv-
ice, and they were allowed to retain them be-
cause they were the private property OF the men.
After the signing of the surrender articles and
some few exchanges of friendly words between
the officers, Lee and Marshall left the room,
mounted and rode to Lees headquarters about
mile south OF the court house. Grant, his staff
and the other union officers present at the sur
render mounted and rode away to the union lines
cast of the court house.
The news of the surrender spread quickly
through the armies, and union batteries began
firing salutes. Grant ordered this firing stopped,
and it is reported that he said: "The war is over,
the rebels are our countrymen again, and the
best sign of rejoicing after victory will be to
abstain from all demonstrations in the field"
Rejoicing throughout the. north was unre-
strained The armies of the Potomac and North
ern Virginia lay eneamped around Appomattox
for a number OF days. Groups of confederates
Immediately after their parole set out on foot, ex-
cepting the few who had horses, for their homes.
Some lived a thousand miles away, and they got
home as best they could, and this was generally
by walking The Army Of the Potomac moved
nothward and occupied the old camp sites around
Washington until the time of the grand review
on Pennsylvania avenue in May.