Bennett Place Bennett Place , sometimes known as Bennett Farm , in Durham , North Carolina , was the site of the largest surrender of Confederate soldiers ending the American Civil War , on April 26 , 1865 . History . After Maj . Gen . William Tecumseh Sherman ' s March to the Sea , he turned north through the Carolinas for the Carolinas Campaign . Confederate President Jefferson Davis met General Joseph E . Johnston in Greensboro , North Carolina , while Sherman had stopped in Raleigh . Though Davis wished to continue the war , Johnston sent a courier to the Union troops encamped at Morrisville , with a message to General Sherman , offering a meeting between the lines to discuss a truce . Johnston , whose army was still an active fighting force encamped in Greensboro , realized it could not continue the war now that Robert E . Lee had surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House on April 9 . Johnston , escorted by a detachment of about 60 troopers of the 5th South Carolina Cavalry Regiment , traveled east along the Hillsborough Road toward Durham Station . Sherman was riding west to meet him , with an escort of 200 men from the 9th and 13th Pennsylvania , 8th Indiana and 2nd Kentucky Cavalry . The farm of James and Nancy Bennett was the closest and most convenient place for privacy . The first day ' s discussion ( April 17 ) was intensified by the telegram Sherman handed to Johnston , informing of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln . They met the following day , April 18 , and signed terms of surrender . Unfortunately , they were rejected by government officials in Washington as they were more generous than those Grant had given Lee . The opposing generals met again on April 26 , 1865 , and signed the final papers of surrender , which disbanded all active Confederate forces in North Carolina , South Carolina , Georgia , and Florida , totaling 89 , 270 soldiers , the largest group to surrender during the war . James and Nancy Bennett were like many families who suffered tremendously during the four years of war . They lost three sons : Lorenzo , who served in the 27th North Carolina , buried in Winchester , Virginia ; Alphonzo , who is currently unaccounted for in the family history ; and their daughter Eliza ' s husband , Robert Duke , who died in a Confederate Army hospital and is buried in Lynchburg , Virginia . The Bennetts never fully recovered from the war , and by 1880 , James Bennett died and the family moved to the new community of Durham to begin a life without him . The Bennett Farm was abandoned and fell into ruin , a fire finally destroying the farmhouse in 1921 . In 1923 the Unity monument was dedicated on the site . In 1960 the Bennett Farm site was fully reclaimed and restored by local preservationists . It was then turned over to the State of North Carolina and made a state historic site . Largest surrender of the Civil War . The difficulty in reaching a surrender agreement lay in part in Johnston ' s desire , influenced by President Davis , for more than the purely military surrender that Sherman offered . Sherman ' s original terms matched those offered by Ulysses S . Grant to Robert E . Lee at Appomattox Court House , but Johnston insisted on resolutions of political issues , including the reestablishment of state governments after the war . Sherman , in accordance with Lincoln ' s stated wishes for a compassionate and forgiving end to the war , agreed on terms that included the political issues . However , Union officials in Washington , angry over the recent assassination of Lincoln on April 14 , turned them down . In response , Jefferson Davis ordered Johnston to disband his infantry and escape with his mounted troops . However , Johnston disobeyed his orders and agreed to meet again with General Sherman at the Bennett Farm on April 26 , 1865 . The rival generals signed new surrender terms , which ended the war for the 89 , 270 soldiers in North Carolina , South Carolina , Georgia , and Florida . Bennett Place State Historic Site . The home of James and Nancy Bennett , simple yeoman farmers , served as the site of the surrender negotiations between Major General William T . Sherman and General Joseph E . Johnston April 17 , 18 , and 26 , 1865 . It was the largest surrender of the American Civil War , officially ending the fighting in Florida , Georgia , South Carolina , and North Carolina . In 1923 , the Unity Monument was placed on the site to commemorate this historic event . Among the many contributors to the preservation of this historic landmark were the Duke , Everett , and Morgan families . Today , Bennett Place State Historic Site is located in the west end of Durham , near Duke University . The site is open to the public , Tuesday - Saturday , 9am - 5pm , with a visitor center , museum , theater presentation , " Dawn of Peace " , research library , gift shop , and the reconstruction of the Bennett Farm . Living history programs and the commemoration of the surrender take place throughout the year . On April 15 , 2010 , the Bennett Place Historic Site unveiled a new painting by renowned Civil War artist Dan Nance , entitled " The First Meeting " . On the same day , the site gave its first William Vatavuk Scholarship , a yearly scholarship for students who wish to major in history in college . The scholarship honors the late William Vatavuk , who wrote " Dawn of Peace " , the first guidebook for the historic site .