[citation needed], With his supplies at Appomattox destroyed, Lee now looked west, to the railway at Lynchburg, where more supplies awaited him. Howard, 1989). The battle of Appomattox Court House pitted the armies ofthe Confederate General Robert E. Lee against the forces led by the Union General Ulysses S. Grant. Reorganized for the war on 12 April 1862. Army of Northern Virginia. Several descendants, who had interest in the parole, were not aware of the pending sale until after it had occurred.[9]. The following day, Union General William Tecumseh Sherman’s cavalry captured Raleigh and pursued Confederate forces under General Joseph E. Johnston west from the state capital. [23] The same day a six-man commission gathered to discuss a formal ceremony of surrender, even though no Confederate officer wished to go through with such an event. After a weeklong flight westward from Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia, Confederate General Robert E. Lee engaged the forces of Union General Ulysses S. Grant before surrendering the Army of Northern Virginia. While Johnston surrendered to Major General William T. Sherman on April 26, other Confederate commands remained operational until capitulating in May and June. Many of these were scattered throughout the South in garrisons or guerrilla bands while the rest were concentrated in three major Confederate commands. Lee hoped to break through the cavalry before infantry arrived. I subsequently gave a civil war talk to my daughter’s 5th grade class and brought copies of the form and paroled each student. According to Longstreet, Custer said “in the name of General Sheridan I demand the unconditional surrender of this army.” Longstreet replied that he was not in command of the army, but if he were he would not deal with messages from Sheridan. No officer surrendered his side arms or horse, if private property, only Confederate property being required, according to the terms of surrender, dated April 9, 1865, and stating that all arms, artillery, and public property were to be packed and stacked and turned over to the officer duly appointed to receive them. The names of those paroled were published long after the war. 47, No. The last Confederate general to surrender was General Stand Watie who surrendered on … N.C.,” Sale 38 Lot 134, Alexander Historical Auctions, Chesapeake City, MD, website accessed June 23, 2016. After the battle most of the Confederate troops surrendered, including Ewell and Brigadier Generals Seth Maxwell Barton, Montgomery Dent Corse, Dudley M. Dubose, Eppa Hunton, Joseph Brevard Kershaw, Custis Lee, James Philip Simms. He recognized that there were good men on both sides; he simply wanted to reunite the country. Upon hearing it Lee finally stated the inevitable: "Then there is nothing left for me to do but to go and see General Grant, and I would rather die a thousand deaths. Surrendered 4 officers and 82 men of which 35 were armed. The signing of the surrender documents occurred in the parlor of the house owned by Wilmer McLean on the afternoon of April 9. General Grant sent a letter on April 7th to General Lee asking him to surrender. I am at this writing about four miles West of Walker's Church and will push forward to the front for the purpose of meeting you. This ended his long-held hope of … His plan was to link up with Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's Army of Tennessee in North Carolina and go on the offensive after establishing defenses on the Roanoke River in southwest Virginia. Significance . [19] The terms of the surrender were recorded in a document handwritten by Grant's adjutant Ely S. Parker, a Native American of the Seneca tribe, and completed around 4 p.m., April 9. [citation needed], En route to the station, on April 6 at Sailor's Creek, nearly one fourth of the retreating Confederate army was cut off by Sheridan's cavalry and elements of the II and VI Corps.