The American Civil War ended in April 1865 with the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia. After a series of defeats in 1863-1864, Lee's Army of Northern Virginia was pursued relentlessly by Grant and forced to abandon Richmond in April 1865. Facing encirclement and the possibility of more bloodshed, Lee surrendered what remained of his army to Grant, who offered generous surrender terms in hopes of reuniting the country. The Civil War was officially over after over four years of conflict between the Union and Confederate states.

1. The
war
is
over

2. The end
•Losses at Gettysburg and
Vicksburg in July, 1863
had merely been the
signals to the Confederacy
that their struggle was not
going to end well.

3. The end
• As 1863 became 1864 and
then 1865, those signals
became alarm bells, as Union
troops, under the leadership of
Grant in the East and Sherman
in the West, moved
relentlessly toward Richmond.

4. The end
• Lee and his Army of Northern
Virginia had been pursued
tirelessly by Grant and the Union
Army of the Potomac, primarily
in and around
Petersburg, VA, just to the south
of the Confederate capital at
Richmond.

5. The end
• With no supplies and needing
to be able to move, Lee
abandoned Petersburg on
April 2, 1865, and Union
troops marched into
Richmond on April 3.

6. The end
•As Lee continued his
retreat west, away from
Richmond, he fought
small skirmishes and
battles against the Union
troops.

7. The end
• His hope was to unite with
General Joseph E.
Johnston’s troops
somewhere in North Carolina
and, hopefully, raise some
kind of stand against the
advancing Union army.

8. The end
• However, he was never able to
realize this hope and decided that
he could not subject his men to
any more fighting and, facing the
possibility of being
surrounded, Lee sent a message
to General Grant asking for
terms of surrender.

9. The end
• Some in Lee’s army wanted
to continue on and fight a
guerilla war, which would
mean a series of hit-and-run
attacks and surprise raids
against Union forces.

10. The end
• Lee believed that this would
bring more devastation to his
country, Virginia, then he
could bare and decided to
meet General Grant at
Appomattox Court
House, VA.

11. surrender
• They met in the farm house
of long-time Virginia
resident, Wilmer
McLean, who had owned a
home in Manassas in
July, 1861 and left to get

12. surrender
•Lee arrived wearing his
best dress
uniform, cleaned and
pressed, as Grant arrived
wearing a dirty private’s
uniform.

13. surrender
•Grant’s terms for
surrender were quite
generous, given what had
happened between the two
sides for the four previous
years.

14. surrender
• Confederate soldiers would
be allowed to keep their
horses and mules and would
not be punished as traitors, as
long as the obeyed the laws
where they lived.

15. surrender
• Union soldiers fired their
guns and artillery salutes
when news of the surrender
reached them, but Grant
quickly ended this, knowing
the now former Confederates
were part of the Union again.

16. surrender
• On April 9, 1865, 3 days
short of the 4 th anniversary of
the attack on Fort Sumter, the
Civil War was over and the
country now had to figure
out how to bring everyone
back together.