CIVIL WAR
What Happened in Wilmer McLean’s Parlor: The Surrender at Appomattox
Grant’s terms for Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia ended a major campaign, discouraged a longer guerrilla war, and offered a model for bringing Confederate armies in from the field.
At Appomattox Court House, Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia—not the entire Confederacy. Grant’s terms paired disarmament with parole, rations, and a path home for defeated soldiers.
On April 9, 1865, Robert E. Lee met Ulysses S. Grant in Wilmer McLean’s parlor at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, and accepted terms for the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia. It was not a peace treaty, and it did not surrender every Confederate force still in the field. But it set the terms by which one of the Confederacy’s principal armies would stop fighting and begin going home. [1][2]
Grant required Confederate soldiers to lay down their arms and accept parole. At the same time, his terms allowed officers to retain their sidearms, private horses, and baggage. Enlisted cavalrymen and artillerymen who claimed horses or mules could take them home. Grant also ordered 25,000 rations for Lee’s hungry army. [1]
Those provisions did not resolve the war’s causes or its human cost. They did provide an orderly way to disband a defeated army rather than leave thousands of armed men to scatter after the collapse of the Petersburg lines.
The Road to Appomattox
The surrender followed months of pressure on Lee’s army. Union forces had besieged Petersburg for about 10 months, placing growing strain on Confederate supply and transportation lines. At Five Forks on April 1, Union forces cut Lee’s last rail connection. The Petersburg lines broke the next day, and Confederate officials evacuated Richmond. [3]
Lee moved west in search of food and a route toward other Confederate forces. The retreat did not restore his army’s prospects. At Sailor’s Creek on April 6, Union troops captured roughly one-quarter of Lee’s retreating force. [4]
Grant began corresponding with Lee on April 7, urging a surrender to prevent further bloodshed. By April 9, Union troops had blocked the Army of Northern Virginia’s route at Appomattox. Lee agreed to meet Grant. [3][4]
Inside the McLean House
Charles Marshall, one of Lee’s aides, selected McLean’s home for the meeting. Grant and Lee agreed on the surrender terms there that afternoon. Lieutenant Colonel Ely S. Parker, a Seneca officer on Grant’s staff, prepared the official ink copy. [1]
The agreement ended the Army of Northern Virginia’s organized military role. Confederate troops were to surrender their weapons and public property and accept parole. Men who observed their parole could return home and were not to be disturbed by U.S. authorities. That language offered former Confederate soldiers protection from immediate treason prosecution, while also provoking Northern debate over the reach of a military commander’s authority. [5]
The practical details mattered. For men returning to farms in spring, a horse or mule could be essential labor. The rations addressed an immediate need for food among the surrendered troops. [1]
The formal surrender of arms followed on April 12. Under Union Brigadier General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain’s supervision, Confederate troops stacked their arms and surrendered their battle flags. [4]
It Was Not a Peace Treaty
Nothing signed at Appomattox ended the Civil War everywhere. Lee surrendered only the Army of Northern Virginia; Confederate forces remained in the field elsewhere. On April 26, General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered his army to William T. Sherman in North Carolina. [2]
Nor was the Appomattox agreement a civilian settlement between governments. It governed the surrender of a military force. President Andrew Johnson did not issue a proclamation declaring the rebellion ended until August 20, 1866. [2]
Parole Instead of Continued Resistance
In the final days of the campaign, Confederate artillery officer E. Porter Alexander proposed dispersing the army into guerrilla bands. Lee rejected the proposal and accepted formal capitulation instead. [2]
More than 28,000 Confederate paroles were processed at Appomattox in the days after the agreement. The parole process offered a framework for bringing defeated soldiers out of the field, and later Confederate surrenders followed the same broad approach even when local details differed. [2]
Appomattox did not settle the questions that followed the war, including Reconstruction and the political rights of formerly enslaved people. Its immediate significance was narrower and concrete: the Army of Northern Virginia stopped fighting under terms that paired disarmament with parole, rations, and a route home.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Robert E. Lee sign a peace treaty at Appomattox?
No. Lee accepted the military surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia. Other Confederate forces remained active, and the agreement was not a national peace treaty. [2]
What happened to Confederate soldiers after they surrendered at Appomattox?
They were paroled and allowed to return home if they observed their parole. Officers could retain sidearms, private horses, and baggage; eligible cavalrymen and artillerymen could keep horses and mules. Grant also ordered rations for the army. [1][5]
When did the Civil War officially end?
Major Confederate armies surrendered during 1865, beginning with Lee’s army at Appomattox and followed by other commands. President Andrew Johnson issued a formal proclamation declaring the rebellion ended on August 20, 1866. [2]
TIMELINE
Key moments
Sources
- The Surrender Meeting - Appomattox Court House National Historical Park — National Park Service
- Ending the Bloodshed — National Archives
- On this day, Lee surrenders at Appomattox — National Constitution Center
- Appomattox Court House Battle Facts and Summary — American Battlefield Trust
- Stacking Arms What-Ifs: Grant's Surrender Terms — Emerging Civil War
RELATED STORIES