It was, as we shall discover later in this series to mark the 160th anniversary of the end of the American Civil War, a very low-key affair – when, on 9 April 1865, the Confederate commander Robert E Lee offered his surrender to Ulysses S Grant, the commanding general of the opposing Union forces, in a now-famous encounter in the parlour of Wilmer McLean’s house in Appomattox, Virginia.
The moment had been a long time coming – the final act in a cataclysmic drama, acted out between the United States and the 11 Southern states that in 1860-1861 had seceded to form the Confederate States of America. But as Lee, resplendent in his best dress uniform, and Grant, arriving straight from the battlefield in drab attire and mud-spattered boots, shook hands to agree the Confederate capitulation, an atmosphere of magnanimity and mutual respect hung in the air.
As it was, the terms offered by Grant were generous. Lee’s soldiers would have to hand in their weapons, but officers would be allowed to keep swords and sidearms. All could then return to their homes, and any man who needed to plough his fields could keep his horse or mule one the army was paroled. On being told that Lee’s troops were living on parched corn, Grant also offered his adversary 25,000 rations from Federal stores. For his part, Lee was gratified by his opponent’s solicitousness. ‘This will have the best possible effect upon the men,’ he said.
