Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

10-2018

Department 1

History

Department 2

Civil War Institute

Abstract

The remains of a lone apple tree, cut down and carved into small pieces by Confederate soldiers, lay along a rutted dirt road that led to the village of Appomattox Court House. Earlier on 9 April 1865, Robert E. Lee had waited under the shade of the apple tree, anxious to hear from Ulysses S.Grant about surrendering his army. Messages between the generals eventually led to a brief meeting between Lee and two Union staff offices who then secured the parlor in Wilmer McLean's house, where Grant dictated the surrender terms to Lee. As soon as the agreement was signed and Lee walked out the door, Union officers "decluttered" the parlor with Yankee efficiency, cutting strips of upholstery from plush sofas, breaking chair legs into small keepsakes, and "appropriating" candleholders and chairs until the room was left barren. [excerpt]

Comments

From WAR MATTERS: MATERIAL CULTURE IN THE CIVIL WAR ERA edited by Joan E. Cashin. Copyright © 2018 by the University of North Carolina Press. Used by permission of the publisher. www.uncpress.org

ISBN/ISSN

978-1-4696-4320-5

Version

Version of Record

Required Publisher's Statement

The full text is available for purchase on the publisher's website: https://www.uncpress.org/book/9781469643205/war-matters/

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