This Humble Virginia Farmhouse Witnessed the Handshake That Reunited America in 1865

The Place Where America’s Bloodiest War Finally Ended

At Appomattox Court House National Historical Park in Virginia, you can walk where the Civil War ended, which was a war that took around620,000 American lives.

This historic place is where Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865.

Here, more than 28,000 Confederate soldiers laid down their weapons and started the long process of bringing the country back together.

The McLean House Wasn’t Wilmer McLean’s First Brush with the Civil War

During the war’s first battle in Yorkshire, Virginia, a Union cannonball crashed through Wilmer McLean’s kitchen chimney and landed right in the family’s dinner pot! To find peace, McLean moved his family 120 miles south to Appomattox Court House in 1863.

Ironically, the war’s biggest surrender happened in his new home’s parlor. Today, you can visit the rebuilt McLean House and stand in the exact 18×24-foot room where Lee and Grant met, complete with copies of the marble-topped table where they signed the surrender papers.

The Village Was Never Actually a Courthouse

People often get confused by the name – Appomattox Court House was a whole village, not just one building. The village was first called Clover Hill because of all its wildflowers, but in 1845 it got a new name when it became the county’s main town.

The courthouse you see today is an exact copy of the 1846 building that burned down in 1892. Inside, park rangers use real law books from the 1860s to show how Judge John Flood handled all kinds of cases, from arguing neighbors to serious crimes.

Grant’s Headache Vanished Upon Reading Lee’s Message

On April 9, 1865, General Grant was suffering from a terrible migraine when Lieutenant Colonel Orville Babcock brought Lee’s surrender message. The pain allegedly disappeared the moment Grant read the note.

You can see the actual 8×12-inch oak box with brass handles that carried this historic message. It’s in the visitor center, along with Grant’s fountain pen and the official military paper they used for their messages.

The Apple Tree Myth Lives On

While waiting to hear from Grant on April 9, Lee took a break in Thomas Coleman’s apple orchard, 1.3 miles from the McLean House. This simple rest created one of the Civil War’s biggest legends.

So many people wanted pieces of the “surrender apple tree” that they took everything – bark, branches, and even roots! Today, you can visit this special spot, marked with signs and a new apple tree grown from a cutting of the original orchard.

The Village General Store Played a Crucial Role

John and Sarah Meeks’ store became an important meeting place during the surrender days of April 9-12, 1865. Union officers gave out more than 25,000 food rations to Confederate soldiers here, and former enemies shared tobacco on the front porch.

The store still stands where it was built, showing visitors what people could buy in the 1860s. You can see items with their old prices: barrel hoops for 25 cents, molasses for 50 cents per gallon, and cotton cloth for 15 cents per yard.

A Female Photographer Captured Historic Moments

Lydia Payne was one of just eight women known to photograph the Civil War. She arrived on April 15, 1865, carrying her heavy 8×10 glass plate camera. She took 17 remarkable pictures of the village during this historic time.

Twelve of her original glass plates are in the park’s museum. As you walk around, brass markers show the exact spots where she set up her camera, letting you compare today’s views with her 1865 photos

The Village’s Last Resident Stayed Until 1970

Hannah Reynolds witnessed incredible changes in American history. Born into slavery in 1850, she lived to be 120 years old and saw both the Civil War’s end and the civil rights movement from her small cabin near the courthouse.

Her restored home still has her original possessions, including her favorite rocking chair and the wooden frame she used for making quilts. She shared many detailed stories with park historians about life during and after the surrender.

A Hidden Time Capsule Was Recently Discovered

In 2019, workers fixing the courthouse foundation found a copper box that had been hidden there since 1846. Inside were 47 fascinating items: Confederate money, personal letters, and a Richmond Enquirer newspaper from April 7, 1846.

The visitor center now displays these treasures in special climate-controlled cases. One letter makes an interesting prediction: that Appomattox Court House would become “a great city of commerce.”

The Original Surrender Documents Never Reached Washington

Lee and Grant signed three copies of the surrender papers, but all of them vanished on their way to Washington, D.C.

While we don’t have these historic documents, the park museum has other important items from that day. You can see the cut-glass inkwell both generals used and the pencil stub Grant used to write the first draft of the surrender terms.

The Soldiers’ Parole Passes Tell Individual Stories

Between April 10 and 15, Union clerks worked non-stop to print 28,231 parole passes on special blue paper. Each 3×5-inch pass meant a Confederate soldier could go home safely without being arrested. The park keeps 316 original passes safe, showing some in the museum.

Many have personal notes, like Private William Thompson’s touching words: “With this paper, I begin my journey home to a country much changed.” Visiting Appomattox Court House connects you directly with a turning point in American history.

As you explore the grounds, you’ll walk where soldiers from both sides began the difficult work of becoming one nation again.

The landscape remains much as it was on that fateful April day in 1865, letting modern visitors experience history exactly where it happened.