Appomattox
– Where the Civil War Formally Ended
When
we were in Spout Spring, VA, we happened to be camping near Appomattox, where
the Civil War formally ended when Lee surrendered to Grant. We had no idea that we’d be so close to this
incredible piece of our nation’s history!
We had to be sure to visit! The
incredible thing is that we visited it on April 9, 151 years after the
surrender occurred, to the day! This
post will be a bit long, in terms of images, as I want to give you an overview
of the village of Appomattox, which is now a National Historic Park. Let’s take a virtual walk around Appomattox……
Appomattox
Courthouse
The
original courthouse was built in 1846 and destroyed by fire in 1892. This is a very carefully researched and
recreation of that courthouse. Everyone
thinks that the surrender occurred here, but it didn’t!
McLean
House
Instead,
the surrender happened in this house. On
April 9, 1865, Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to
Lt. Ulysses S. Grant in the parlor of this house. We’ll see more of this house in a separate
blog post. The house, built in 1848,
survived thru several different owners, until 1893. In a “get rich quick” scheme, some
speculators dismantled the house in an attempt to relocate it to Washington,
DC, in order to use it as part of a museum.
That idea never took hold, and the house sat in pieces until the house
completely disintegrated. This house is
a recreation, altho we did get to see some of the actual foundation bricks –
more about that in a later post!
McLean
House Summer Kitchen
Just
as was the case with some of the lighthouses in Florida, the McLean House had a
summer kitchen so that the house itself didn’t become overly hot during the
summer months when supper was cooked.
Road
to the Cemetery
Everything
was starting to green up around here when we visited, and the road that ran by
the McLean House and on down to the Confederate Cemetery reflected that. The
fences that ran along the green fields made me feel much warmer than the temps
did on the day we visited!
Confederate
Cemetery
This
is a very small cemetery – all the graves are reflected in this one image! You can count 16 flags, but only one is a
soldier that was a Union soldier. The
rest were Confederate soldiers, as reflected by the flags flown on their
graves.
Meeks
Stable
I
could just imagine the village horses being kept here. I don’t know if that’s exactly what happened,
but Mr. Meeks had a general store, so it’s not too much of a stretch to think
that his stable also was a money-maker for him.
Woodson
Law Office
This
is an original structure, dating back to 1856 when John Woodson bought it. He practiced law here until his death 8 years
later. Unfortunately, there was no
information about how Mr. Woodson died.
This office was typical for lawyers of that period.
Clover
Hill Tavern
This
tavern was built in 1852, and at the time of the surrender, it was used as a
general store and post office, both operated by Mr. Francis Meeks – a very
enterprising guy!
Tavern
Kitchen and Slave Quarters
Keep
in mind, at the time of the surrender, Appomattox was in Virginia, which was
part of the Confederacy. Many of the
houses and buildings in that period had small houses (the white building in
this image) in which the slaves lived. The other building was the kitchen of
the tavern, again, separated from the tavern itself, so that the tavern didn’t
become too warm in the summer.
Tavern
Guesthouse
Yes,
Mr. Meeks was quite the entrepreneur!
This is an image of the guest house associated with the tavern. In 1865, there was also a dining wing
(attached to the tavern building, I believe) and a small detached bar. I’m not clear what the difference between a
bar and tavern was, back in those days, tho.
Richmond-Lynchburg
Stage Road
I
really like this image for a number of reasons.
I took it as I stood on the front stoop of the Clover Hill Tavern. My imagination kind of ran wild, and I
imagined people found guilty of some crime in the courthouse (building on the
right) being walked over to Appomattox Country Jail to serve their time. We’ll see more of the jail in a separate blog
post. The other piece of information
that got my imagination going was when one of the park rangers told me that the
road in between the tavern where I was standing and the courthouse & jail
is called Richmond-Lynchburg Stage Road.
This is the actual road that Lee came down in order to surrender
to Grant back in 1865. It was incredible
to think that we were walking on the same ground, the same road that Lee and
his troops marched down to end a horrible piece of US history.
Site
of the Old Jail
Right
next to the tavern and on the same side of the Richmond-Lynchburg Stage Road as
the tavern, is this patch of land, outlined by 4 markers. This was the site of the first jail, and is
across the street from the jail that’s up now.
Peers
House
This
is an original structure, not open to the public, and was the house of George
Peers, the clerk of the Appomattox County court for 40 years. He lived in this house which was built in the
early 1850s. An interesting note is that
just east of this house (behind it as you’re looking at it in this image) was
where the Stacking of Arms occurred on April 12, 1865. The weapons, flags, etc., of Lee’s infantry
were stacked in the area behind Peers House before the Federal troops that
lined the Richmond-Lynchburg Stage Road in the formal surrender of the Army of
Northern Virginia, Lee’s army.
Isbell
House
This
house was built in 1850 by 2 brothers, one of whom was US Senator Thomas
Bocock, who later served as speaker of the Confederate Congress. Again, this is an original structure not open
to the public. I couldn’t find any
reason why it is called the Isbell House – perhaps Senator Bocock’s wife?
Mariah
Wright House
This
is another original structure not open to the public. It’s a frame house, built in the mid-1820s,
and is one of the older buildings in the village. The stone and brick chimneys are typical of
this region at this time.
Enjoy!