Chair used by General Ulysses S. Grant during surrender at Appomattox, 1865
date: label: Date made
content: before 1865
label: associated date
content: 1865-04-09
name: label: associated person
content: Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson)
notes: label: Description
content: On April 9, 1865, General Ulysses S. Grant and General Robert E. Lee met in the home of Wilmer McLean at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, to negotiate the surrender of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia to the United States Army. Sitting in the chair on the right, Grant discussed the fate of Lee’s troops. Then, leaning over the oval table, he drafted and signed the final terms of surrender. While there were still Confederate troops in the field under other commanders, Lee's surrender effectively marked the end of the Civil War.
label: Description
content: Union officers, recognizing the significance of the event, individually took pieces of furniture as souvenirs. General E. W. Whitaker grabbed Lee's chair, General Henry Capehart claimed Grant's chair, and General Philip Sheridan took the table and presented it to the wife of Major General George Armstrong Custer. In three separate donations, by 1915, these items were reunited at the Smithsonian Institution.
place: label: used
content: United States: Virginia, Appomattox Court House National Historical Park
label: associated place
content: United States: Virginia, Appomattox
topic: label: used
content: Civil War
label: related event
content: Civil War
label: related event
content: Surrender by General Lee
setName: label: See more items in
content: Political History: Political History, General History Collection
label: See more items in
content: Government, Politics, and Reform
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content: Military
label: See more items in
content: National Treasures exhibit
label: Exhibition
content: Price of Freedom
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Kendrick, Kathleen M. and Peter C. Liebhold. Smithsonian Treasures of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Estate of General Wilmon W. Blackmar
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: PL.010517
label: catalog number
content: 10517
label: accession number
content: 45493
objectType: label: Object Name
content: chair
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 37 1/2 in x 21 3/4 in x 17 1/2 in; 95.25 cm x 55.245 cm x 44.45 cm