confederate general robert e. lee surrendered his army to ulysees grant. we'll hear from the two living historians at the park's events commemorating the surrender at appomattox. >> my name is robin snyder, i'm currently the acting superintendant at appomattox courthouse national historical park. it is my distinct honor on behalf of the national park service and the united states postal service to welcome each of you here today on this historic day in our nation's history. this courthouse village stands not just as the symbol of war's end but as a point of departure

for a transformed nation. the significance of what took place in mr. mclean's parlor settled the issue of who would be the victors of the american civil war. but many questions remained unanswered. soldiers echoed their thoughts in letters and diary entries. while letters of union soldiers reflected jubilation, their words also reflected concerns. turn it down now. in the the front lines of appomattox chapel, j.l. mulligan of the 140th pennsylvania wrote a few days later, though the army of northern virginia is

ours, still grave questions remain to be settled for which god alone can give the true wisdom and guidance. a confederate artillerist private berkeley recorded a diary entry on april 11th after confirming in his previous day's entry that lee had surrendered his whole army. surely the last 24 hours has been a day of the most intense mental anxiety i have ever experienced. thousands of thoughts have passed through my mind as to what fate awaits my country, my family, my neighbors, my friends, and myself. and several months earlier, morgan w. carter, with the 28th united states colored troops expressed his concerns in a letter home. you know yourself that we have been trampled under the white man's heel for years now. and we have a choice to elevate ourselves and our race, and what little i can do toward it, i

will do so most willingly. if i should die before i receive the benefit of it, i will have the consolation of knowing that the generations to come will receive the blessing of it. and i think it the duty of all men of our race to do what they can. the diaries and letters of these soldiers reflect uncertainty, but also hope. hope is our essential path as a nation. and it is central to the story of appomattox. when lee -- when grant offer the confederate soldiers could carry home their horses, their baggage, and their side arms, he fueled hope. when lee declared that his army would not scatter to the countryside to fight a guerrilla war, he abided the hope of lincoln, grant, and tens of

thousands of union soldiers that the conflict would end quickly and with ceremony rather than slowly and with destruction. for slaves, appomattox represented the realization of dreams of freedom and fueled new hopes that the path forward would bring them justice and equality. as we gather here on this momentous day, as we reflect on this immense event that played out in this simple virginia village, let us take hope from the events we recall and strength from the people who lived upon and walked upon this ground 150 years ago. but let us remember, too, that the hope of a moment often requires the efforts of generations to realize. in that way, we remain active participants in our nation's efforts to realize the hopes and aspirations born of appomattox

150 years ago today. at this time, i would like to introduce to you patrick a. mendonca, senior director, office of the postmaster general and chief executive officer of the united states postal service, a career postal employee we are very happy to have patrick join us today for the commemoration events. [ applause ] >> good afternoon. thank you ladies and gentlemen. thank you, robin, for that kind introduction. i'd like to first thank the national park service and the u.s. poe tal service events staff for this very fine preparation for this event today and recognize a couple of my colleagues that are here today from the district, the district manager and district office,

wendy english. william acres from our area office, darryl seed. and our postmaster from appomattox, ronda. thank you for being here. i'm honored to represent isn't the u.s. postal service as we dedicate our final two stamps of the civil war series. it is a humbling to be at the very site where 150 years ago today general robert e. lee surrendered the army to general ulysses s. grant effectively ending the civil war. we have come full circle with our civil war stamp series. four years ago we began the series with our fort sumpter and our first battleable run.

the battle engulfed the farm of will mclean whose home was commandeered by general beauregard as his headquarters. artillery left the property in ruin. after the second battle, mr. mclean moved his family 150 miles away to a quiet country town called appomattox courthouse. here his family lived peacefully until april 8th, 1865 when charles was asked to show him a place that was suitable for lee and another general to meet. when his first suggestion was rejected, mr. mclean offered his home for the meeting and the rest is history. that most likely would not have happened if not for a battle that took place about 80 miles to the east in did witty county virginia. the battle of five forks. this battle was a decisive clash

that forced confederates to abandon their capital and ultimately led to the surrender of the army of northern virginia. today the united states postal service is pleased and proud to concludes its series by issuing two new stamps, one that depicts the battle of five forks and one that depicts robert e. lee's surrender to ewe -- ulysses s. grant on april 9th, 1865. the art director created the stamps we dedicate today. the battle of five forks' stamp features a reproduction of a paining by a french artist who is perhaps best known for creating this 360 degrees battle

of gettysburg that first went on display in 1883 and can be seen today at the gettysburg park. the appomattox courthouse stamp is a reproduction of an 1885 painting by thomas nast the corps to annist who popularized the donkey as the symbol of the democratic party and the elephant as a symbol of the republican party. in these images we see the history of america. remarkably all of this done on the size of a postage stamp. from this day forward these images will be carried on letters and packages to millions of households and businesses throughout the united states. on a personal note, i experienced and i finally remembered the centennial of the civil war. in fact i believe it was my first t-shirt that had something on it. it demonstrated to me how exciting the history of our nation is and how much there is to learn it from. in terms of learning, my daughter went to gettysburg college. and so the civil war has always been close to my family and myself. in closing let me state that in

issuing the new stamps the united states postal service has been proud to participate in a valuable effort to commemorate and reflect anew on a critical area of our nation's history. now, on behalf of the united states postal service i'd like to ask robin and dennis to come up on the strategy and help us unveil the stamp. [ applause ] >> all right. >> one, two, three. [ applause ]

[ chatter ] >> ladies and gentlemen, we're going to make a little bit of a stage change here. okay. we're waiting. we're going to make a bit of a stage change and then we'll get to our program focused on the surrender meeting between lee and grant in the mclean house on april 9th, 1865. just give us a couple moments.só

[ chatter ]

[ chatter ] >> attention! >> shoulder arm!

present arms! >> afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. >> at 1:30, about 1:30 on the afternoon of april 9th, 1865 ulysses grant and a small entourage of officers arrived here at the mclean house. if you look to your right, they are giving you a sense of that moment 150 years ago.

>> after he >> after he arrived in the yard, general grant dismounted, and he would move directly up the steps of william mclean's house and disappeared into the home to discuss with robert e. lee the surrender of the army of northern virginia.

[ dog barking ] >> robert e. lee arrived here about one half hour prior to grant and was already in the parlor awaiting his arrival. for the next hour and 15

minutes, we will talk about this event, 150 years to the minute after it happened. robert e. lee was accompanied that day by charles marshall, one of his aides. ulysses grant was accompanied by a large group of officers, among them his military secretary ellie s. parker and a dozen other officers gathered with lee in the mclean house to negotiate, to record, and to sign the terms of surrender of lee's army. today, 150 years ago to this minute, we are going to revisit that afternoon in the mclean parlor. that great meeting. we remember it in its fabric, assisted by some descendants of those who were there that day, but we also look for its larger meaning, for our nation, and for its people.

at about three minutes -- excuse me, at about five minutes after 3:00 today, after lee departs the house, a moment you will witness here at 3:00, at about 3:05 we will signal from this stage the beginning of bells across the land. this is an effort by which dozens if not hundreds of communities across the country will be tolling bells at 3:15 eastern daylight time this afternoon. the liberty bell will ring at 3:15 this afternoon. the bell in boston's old north church will ring at 3:15. as will the bell in the state capital in richmond and every firehouse in chicago and at hundreds of churches and schools across our nation. but the first of those bells will ring here, from this stage, just a few minutes before 3:15. the bells will ring here and across the land for four

minutes, one minute for each year of the war. we hope after lee departs this scene at 3:00 that you'll stay with us as we ring the bell. and now we begin. appomattox courthouse, early 1865, before war came, appomattox court house looked not unlike hundreds of other communities across america. the tavern served travelers on the richmond to lynchburg stage road as it had for decades. francis meeks ran a common general store across the lawn from the tavern right behind you. he also served, he did, as the village's postmaster and pharmacist. one thing rendered appomattox different than many american villages. it was the county seat. it's an undeniable curiosity that when in 1845, the virginia legislature created appomattox county and designated the county

seat at this village then called clover hill. it's an undeniable curiosity that local leaders decided to build the jail before they built the courthouse. once the courthouse opened in 1846, appomattox commenced a distinct rhythm that persisted for decades. monthly court days brought life to this community once a month as citizens gathered from across the county to conduct business to run for office, to sell goods, to sell slaves. to witness court proceedings. they sprawled throughout the village on court days. it's likely and probable that appomattox's only world famous residents at that time probably made appearances at court days here prior to the war. several lawyers had offices in

town. sheriff wilson went about his business in early 1865 like many american sheriffs did, except that in 1865, he spent much more time rounding out confederate deserters than he did outlaws. george pierce was the county clerk. le wis -- lewis isbel lived over here to my right. he was the commonwealth's attorney. another 150 or so residents lived in and around the village. beyond were farms small and large. almost all of them cultivated by enslaved people. slaves were central to appomattox county. the slaves who lived and worked here were worth almost twice as much as the land that they worked upon. their homes, simple frame or log buildings, dotted the farms and the backyards of the county and village. it's likely that by 1865 many of the men, women and children who lived in these cabins had heard of the emancipation proclamation. but the union army and the

freedom that would accompany it had always been miles and miles away from appomattox until april 1865. >> in a small town like this, new neighbors met big excitement. they seemed to come along only once a decade or so. and wilmer mclean, his wife virginia, son wilmer jr. and young daughter lulu arrived here in 1863. the curiosity was surely intensified. while appomattox had experienced war only from afar, the mcleans moved here from the midst of it. indeed, a close reading of confederate newspapers in 1861 would've rendered the locals here familiar with the mclean name long before the family arrived. wilmer mclean had married well.

and in 1861, in addition to his pursuits as a sugar speculator and merchant, he oversaw a sizable plantation along bull run. a crossing of bull run bore mclean's name and became moderately famous during the first major battles of the civil war. two, general beauregard made mclean's house his headquarters during the first part of the war and mentioned it in his reports. wilmer mclean was no joel sweeney. so far as celebrities went. but he likely arrived in appomattox with a tinge of fame. wilmer mclean had a complex relationship with the war and the confederacy. the war tangibly threatened his home and his family along bull run. mclean's livelihood depended on the confederacy. he did a good business renting

buildings and supplying the confederate army around manassas junction and with various goods and services. he reinvested some of his profits back into the confederacy, buying hundreds of dollars worth of confederate bonds. in early 1862, when the confederates departed northern virginia, so did the mcleans. at least his business. he sent his family and some of his slaves away for security's sake. and after the second battle bloodied the fields of manassas, mclean decided to leave it all together. the decision brought him here to appomattox. a place that had seen none of the war and had felt its hardships only through the letters home of the serving soldiers and the dire news of death by battle and sickness. wilmer mclean, his family, and at least some of their slaves

moved into the comfortable brick house next to us here. there, mclean would disappear from history until april 9th, 1865 when one of robert e. lee's staff officers encountered him on the dirt streets of the village at appomattox courthouse. >> robert e. lee, it's likely in april of 1865 robert e. lee was the most famous man not just in america, but perhaps in the world. his name has come to us in simple terms as a man of marvel, his status a product of effective simplicity, unaffected dignity, and incredible boldness, but there was more to lee than that. he was deeply analytical and saw the implications of his acts more clearly than even most of his ardent admirers did. he became unshakably committed to the success of the

confederacy, to sustaining the differences between north and south by forging a new independent nation. and he did, perhaps, more than anyone else to nearly make that happen. in the middle of 1862, robert e. lee began a year-long stretch of stunning military successes perhaps unmatched in our nation's history. for seven days in fredericksburg and chancellorsville, every one of them particular again-- spectacular against significant odds. the victories brought him fame, but more importantly, they brought the confederacy hope. while lee won victories in virginia, around him, the confederate war effort stumbled. often disastrously. by 1863, lee had a preeminent place in the public mind. he knew well victories by him and his army stood as the only

beacon of hope for the confederacy. he knew, too, that the feats inflicted by him might challenge the will of the northern people to continue this war. the psychological impact of his successes he knew would far outstrip their military value. his every decision, his every act was purposeful. hoping for a decisive blow that would tip the scales in the confederacy's favor. and that victory would never come. but still, the confederacy and lee's army hoped and believed. a soldier from south carolina declared, no one can excite our enthusiasm like he does. another soldier said, it makes one feel better to look at him. unlike many of his opponents, lee spent little time worrying about what union generals might do to him. instead, he spent his energy figuring out what he could do to union generals and their armies. his was a mind that craved the initiative. and he was most effective when he possessed it.

and that he largely did until may 1864 when ulysses s. grant arrived in virginia. >> grant. unlike lee, there would be few profuse descriptions of ulysses s. grant, commander of all union armies. one veteran officer described him as stumpy, unmilitary, slouchy, and western looking. very ordinary, in fact. a private soldier who saw him in a review said he rode his horse like a bag of meal. another noted in walking he leans forward and toddles. though the bearing he could not have been more different than robert e. lee. by the time the armies arrived at appomattox, he might have been only slightly less famous

than his opponent. certainly, he had become a central to his nation's aspirations as lee was to the confederacy. charles francis adams jr., a grandson of presidents conceded grant's awkward ways but saw the man within. he is a remarkable man. he handles those around him so quietly and well. he has a faculty of disposing of work and managing men. president lincoln recognized grant's skills, but especially admired his persistency of purpose. he has the grit of a bulldog. another officer put it in even more colorful terms. he habitually wears an expression as if he is

determined to drive his head through a brick wall and was about to do it. general grant attached himself to the army of the potomac in 1864 and promptly set about taking the initiative from robert e. lee. with a determination that matched lee's and with an army larger than the army of northern virginia, grant thundered through virginia, through the wilderness, spotsylvania, to the north anna and cold harbor in front of richmond and petersburg. on april 1st, 1865, he imposed disaster on the confederates at five forks. petersburg fell on april 2nd, and richmond the next day. lee and his army fled westward trying to escape. the parallel pass of the army finally intersected here at appomattox courthouse, not far

from the home of the newcomer, wilmer mclean. >> the apple tree. grant first proposed that lee surrender near farmville on april 7th. but lee danced around the issue trying to buy some time. keeping his options open until all hope was extinguished. that moment came on the morning of september -- excuse me, sunday, april 9th. the supplies lee had hoped would feed his army in appomattox station fell into union hands. union troops blocked the road west of appomattox courthouse. before dawn that morning, sensing what the day might bring and knowing that how he portrayed himself in defeat mattered a great deal, lee dressed in a new gray uniform and sash and buckled on his sword. something he rarely did. at some point, he received the worst news at his headquarters

east of the appomattox river. his army could not break through the union lines west of the courthouse. on dozens of fields, lee had always had options. but no more. there is nothing left for me to do, he said, than to go and see general grant and i had rather die a thousand deaths. over the next many hours, lee sent three notes through the lines to grant. the last was simple and direct. quote, i ask a suspension of hostilities pending the adjustment of the terms of surrender of this army. about 10:30 in the morning of april 9th, 1865, the guns of the armies fell silent. lee waited for a response under an apple tree along the stage road near the narrow banks of the appomattox river about a mile from where we are. not far from the banjo playing sweeneys' home, all the brothers

were dead by now. a staff officer hauled up some fence rails for lee to sit upon as he waited. for a time, the general fell asleep. as he awaited word from grant. just before 1:00 p.m., the union staff officer bearing a flag of truce and a note from grant arrived at lee's apple tree headquarters. grant's note informed lee, i will push forward to the front for the purpose of meeting you. it is now my pleasure to call forth patrick schroeder who for 20 years has explored the lanes, the fields, and the home places of appomattox courthouse as an historian for the national park service. today, he will carry our story from the famed apple tree into wilmer mclean's parlor 150 years

ago to this minute. >> thank you, john, thank you for all of you being in attendance today to remember this important date in our country's history. grant's letter was lieutenant colonel orville babcock. he had an orderly with him named william mckee dunn. they found lee resting under that apple tree by the appomattox river. grant's message directed lee to find a suitable place for the meeting to occur. by this time lee had with him only lieutenant colonel charles marshall, his aide to camp of his staff and an orderly named joshua johns. his other aide to camp, walter taylor, had begged off from having to suffer the humiliation of attending the surrender meeting. marshall did not. in fact, lee refused to duck the responsibility himself. attending the meeting in person.

in their previous corresponde e correspondence, grant offered to save lee the humiliation by stating he would meet with anyone that lee designated. lee's father, light horse harry lee had been with washington at yorktown and witnessed what he deemed to be the shameful behavior of lord corn wallace by sending a subordinate to formally surrender the british army. lee would not shame the family's name by transferring the responsibility to a subordinate. as the small party left the apple tree site and reached the appomattox river, lee's horse traveler stopped to drink. marshall, lieutenant colonel charles marshall, continued into the village behind us and

encountered wilmer mclean, who was outside of his house, perhaps looking to have a guard posted at his home. mclean first showed him a building, most likely in the front corner of his yard. the rain tavern as it was known, but the buildings was unfurnished. and marshall rejected it. then mclean offered his own home, which stands behind us. behind me and in front of you. it was a fine brick home. marshall returned to lee to guide him to the location. the group arrived at the house at about 1:00 p.m. they left lieutenant dunn at the gate. he was posted there to watch for the approach of grant. joshua johns held the horses of lee and marshall outside the house, probably in this area where this stand is set up. babcock, marshall and lee

entered the house, turned to the left, and took seats in the parlor. lee's biographer suggested this may have been the longest half hour of lee's life. after riding for more than 20 miles, grant arrived with his staff in tow at about 1:30 in the afternoon. he picked up general sheridan and ord at the top of the ridge in front of you. on his way to the mclean house. in fact, he asked sheridan where general lee was and sheridan said he is over in that house waiting to surrender to you. and he invited sheridan to come along with him. he said, come, let's go. when grant enters the parlor, lee rose and met him. the two men shook hands.

there indeed was a contrast between the two men. first of all, lee was 58 years old, grant was 42. there was a 16-year difference between each -- the two men. and sometimes, i think too much is made about their dress. general lee put on a new uniform that day, said he expected to be general grant's prisoner and wanted to make his best appearance. general grant was never a fancy dresser. he had just rode over 20 miles on virginia muddy roads as you probably experienced today. [ laughter ] >> grant wasn't riding by himself. he had his staff with him, had an escort, third west virginia calvary. none of grant's staff was clean. it wasn't like the mud just stuck to grant and no one else. they were all mud splattered.

general lee had put on a new uniform and he rode only about a mile and a mile and a half to this meeting. grant explained that he did not have his baggage with him and he didn't want to make general lee wait. general lee said he was glad that grant didn't make him wait and that he came to the meeting. they found common ground. they began to discuss. grant brought up he met general lee in the mexican war. general lee recalled that he had met grant. as the generals are speaking, general grant's staff files into the room. and after some time of conversation about mexico, lee called grant's attention to the matter at hand and inquired to the terms. grant replied that the terms would be substantially the same

as what he had wrote the previous day. lee then asked grant to put his terms in writing. and then lee sat down near a large marble top white table. while puffing on a cigar, grant sat at a small wooden table that had an oval top on it and began writing in pencil in his manifold order book. observing lee as he wrote, grant said he could not discern lee's true feelings. and he said the initial joy he had felt at receiving lee's letter wanting to meet with him to surrender had dissipated. and now, he felt sad and depressed. he recalled, i felt like anything rather than rejoicing at the downfall of a foe. the wishes of lincoln came out in the terms. grant had met lincoln on april -- march 28th and discussed the end of the war. and in effect, lincoln had said, let them up easy. after all, these men would

become, hopefully, worthy united states citizens again. grant was generous. he was not going to send the confederate soldiers to prison camp. they would be paroled and allowed to go home. the officers were allowed to keep their side arms and personal baggage and their private horses. with the terms written, lee would not have to surrender his sword. he would not suffer that humiliation. after reading these generous terms, lee said this will have a very happy effect upon my army. then he inquired if the enlisted men of the army could keep their horses as well. grant stated the terms did not allow this. and lee acknowledged they did not. but grant was perceptive and caught lee's anxiety on the matter and he acted quickly.

he was not going to make lee beg for this concession. he said to lee that he did not know that the confederate soldiers owned their own horses. but he assumed that many of the men were small farmers and they would need those horses to put in a crop. he then stated he would not change the terms as written but would give instructions to allow the confederate soldiers to take their horses home to work their farms. grant well understood that this meeting taking place in this parlor was about the future of the country. grant -- or lee responded once again, this will have the best possible effect on my army. lee found the terms agreeable. the task of putting the final draft into ink fell to lieutenant colonel e. lee parker. a native american of the seneca people. who was said to have the best

penmanship on general grant's staff. parker sat down to write, but he lacked ink. lieutenant colonel charles marshall, lee's aide to camp, alleviated the problem by producing a box wood ink stand for parker. parker wrote beautifully and the final copy, the final letter, which is on loan to the national park here at appomattox from stratford hall is on display in marshall was tasked with writing lee's acceptance letter of the terms, but marshall lacked paper. grant's staff quickly produced paper for colonel marshall. right there in the mclean parlor, you already have the interdependency between the north and the south.

while waiting for the final letters to be completed, lee mentioned to grant he had a thousand of grant's men prisoners. mainly captured at the april 6th battle of high bridge near farmville. and lee dropped another rather large hint saying he had no food for grant's men and, indeed, he had nothing for his own men. no food for his own men. grant responded that he could send over 25,000 rations to feed lee's army. lee gratefully acknowledged that that was ample. while drafting the letters continued, grant introduced some of the officers in the room with him, including general seth williams. general lee knew seth williams well. williams had been lee's adigent

from 1852 to 1855. another person that general grant introduced was a young captain that had joined his staff less than a month earlier. his name was robert lincoln. he was the son of abraham lincoln. he had recently graduated from harvard and joined general grant's staff in mid march and here in the mclean parlor. we don't have a record of how general lee reacted to meeting robert lincoln. the 8-year-old daughter of wilmer mclean left a rag doll on the couch in the parlor where the meeting occurred. and when everyone came in, they took that doll and placed it on the mantle of the parlor. and afterwards, the officer started tossing that rag doll around. and it was kept as a war

souvenir by captain thomas moore. they called it the silent witness. the moore family kept that doll in new york. the men would exhibit it as a war souvenir. in the early 1990s, the ladies of the family saying the men had passed away, they wanted that to come back to the appomattox courthouse, and it is now on the second level of our visitors' center museum. once the letters were finished by parker and marshall, they were exchanged. commanders lee and grant did not sign one document. they simply exchanged those letters. the meeting concluding lee and grant shook hands, general lee went out on to the front porch, called for johns and traveler. and once lee mounted, grant who had come out of the house with his staff tipped his hat to lee. and lee returned that gesture

and began to ride to his army. upon approaching his men in the appomattox river valley, general lee informed them that they had been surrendered and then told them to go home and make as good citizens as you have soldiers. when general grant left the mclean house, he heard the celebratory firing of muskets and cannon being discharged. he ordered the firings stopped. he said the rebels are our countrymen again. when the meeting concluded, a path was set for the future of the nation. when the meeting concluded, it meant that after four years of slaughter americans would stop butchering americans on the battlefield. there would be a lasting peace and a more permanent binding for the nation.

lee's letter of acceptance of grant's terms made the emancipation proclamation effective throughout virginia. and i firmly believe and agree with what a west virginia soldier, an infantryman named j.b. cunningham present at the battle of appomattox courthouse on the morning of april 9th, 1865, what he wrote home to his family in a letter. the letter stated april 9th is the greatest day in american history. thank you. [ applause ] >> thank you, patrick. americans have a deep and abiding personal connection with the american civil war. those americans who do not have a family connection are often

intensely interested in those who do. we have seen it throughout the 150th anniversary of notable descendents s. and this afternoon, we're happy to feature one of them once again for you. a man who has descended from the only confederate officer who accompanied lee into the parlor that afternoon. dennis bigelow is the great, great grandson of charles marshall. as i said, the only officer to join lee inside the house. on most days, mr. bigelow can be found working as a costume interpreter for jamesmen row. we've asked dennis if he would take a few minutes this afternoon and share with you his

perspective of having a family connection to an historic event of such magnitude and reach. mr. dennis bigelow. >> you've been sitting for a while. so you don't need a repeat of what you've heard so well in terms of the particulars of what happened in the mclean house and the surrender. so i'm not going to read that out of grandfather marshall's book. but, i think, you would like to hear this. punctuated by the loss of a third of the army of northern virginia at sailor's creek on the 6th of april with

confederate general gordon having been stopped dead by a sea of general sheridan's blue coats on the morning of the 9th, general lee knew his shrinking army could not remain whole. and could not break out of its encirclement. after four years of arduous service marked by unsurpassed courage and fortitude, the army of northern virginia must yield to overwhelming numbers and resources. in the wee hours of the 9th of

april, general lee's aide lieutenant colonel charles marshall and fellow staff officers of general's longstreet and gordon took their only refreshment of the day. a little corn meal gruel they shared from a heated shaving tin. and grandfather marshall noted later that this was our last meal in the confederacy. our next was taken in the united states. the agreement of surrender which took place 150 years ago was the culmination of seven letters between general grant and general lee. exchanges initiated by grant on the 7th and closed by grant on the morning of the 9th. the number 7, which might be seen as the number of completion

if not perfection. grandfather marshall noted here that on the 9th of april at the little village of appomattox when general lee met general grant, the question of the union of the states passed into history, never to be revived! but what must never be forgotten here, he felt, was the conduct here of victorious americans in blue toward defeated americans in gray. specifically marshall said of the federals, they love their enemies and did good to those who hated them. this grace, kindness and magnanimity over four days of surrender proceedings from the 9th to the 12th from agreement of terms to stacking of arms, from the conduct of general

grant to the gracious spirit of general chamberlain, from the soldiers of the blue toward the gray. from the strong to the broken and lifting them up. forever molded charles marshall's life after appomattox, making him a peacemaker. and he readily alluded to matthew 5:9. blessed are the peacemakers for they are the children of god. and so, after that, he became the peacemaker among the diehards of the lost cause. renewing him as a citizen of the united states of america. and he did that until he died in 1902. but before he died in 1892, a memorial day, he was asked to give a keynote speech before grant's tomb that he may carry

on the work of peacemaking, which is our job today. >> thank you, dennis. it is probably at this moment 150 years ago that lieutenant colonel ely parker of grant's staff was tribing the final terms. surrender of grant's signature. including the great grand nephew of eli parker, a seneca indian who would become he remained legendary for a story told earlier today when lee met parker at the conclusion of the meeting. het flinched and wondered at the presence of a man in the room. after he covered himself, lee looked at eli parker, extended his hand and said, i'm glad to see one real american here. eli parker grabbed lee's hand in return.

he told the confederate general, the man in appomattox who probably had more cause to doubt >> thank you, dennis. it is probably at this moment 150 years ago that lieutenant colonel ely parker of grant's staff was tribing the final terms. surrender of grant's signature. including the great grand nephew of eli parker, a seneca indian who would become he remained legendary for a story told earlier today when lee met parker at the conclusion of the

meeting. het flinched and wondered at the presence of a man in the room. after he covered himself, lee looked at eli parker, extended his hand and said, i'm glad to see one real american here. eli parker grabbed lee's hand in return. he told the confederate general, the man in appomattox who probably had more cause to doubt his status as an american being assured of his status as an american by a man who had to strive hard to be seen as an american. and eli parker turned and shook his hand and said, we are all americans this day. and like to take this moment to introduce to you just briefly to acknowledge his presence here.

al parker, who is the great, great grand nephew of eli parker of the seneca nation. >> in the seneca language, i wish to acknowledge all that have gathered here today, and i give a thanksgiving that you have arrived safely and enjoy your day here at appomattox. wonderful time, tremendous commemoration. it's a great privilege and honor for me to represent the parker family and to take part in this commemorative event. thank you very much. thank you. >> i have to say that all of us

who work for the national park service. many of us have done many events over the 150th. and i have to say, we're in awe we thank you for much for being here. it's time as this meeting in the house wound down between 2:30 and 3:00 to take through maybe a larger lens. now, we are honored today to welcome dr. ed aires. some of you met ed before. if you're in the sweltering heat at manassas on july 21st, 2011, if you can remember back that far, he gave the keynote address at manassas on that day. it seems a very, very long time ago. just outstanding events in richmond, last weekend

commemorating the fall of richmond. dr. ed aires is one of america's preeminent civil war historians, and i don't say that lightly. he's one committed not just to impeccable scholarship, but to reaching people beyond academia. he roots out stories, untold stories, he amplifies voices unheard. and he constantly challenges us to see events in new ways. always with a sense of historical justice for those who are there. perhaps more than any historian working in the field, he helps us accord meaning to events that were almost always far more complex and far reaching than we imagined them to be.

he's retiring from his position at the university of richmond this summer. while it's a great loss for the university to be sure, a prospect of dr. aires devoting his immense energies, once again, to history is good news for the rest of us. it's my pleasure to introduce to you dr. ed aires. >> thank you. >> there are, indeed, very many of you. and it's convenient that all of you come labeled. i can see where everybody's from by the baseball caps. and so i see everything from boston to mississippi here a few rows apart. it seems very fitting. and i'm going to take just a few

moments for all of us to think about what it has meant to this country to have a national park service step up throughout the sesquescentennial. available to us, comprehensible to us, welcoming to us, it's true, i was at manassas, and it was approximately 800 degrees is my memory. also had the good fortune of being at ft. sumter on the evening before the firing. i happened to be at gettysburg where it was also hot. and as john mentioned, last weekend in richmond, we had thousands of people come to commemorate what it was like when the confederates fled that city and the united states troops and abraham lincoln came into it. it was one of the more powerful moments of my life to see americans coming together and remember all of our history. the drums building in the background here. it's been a long war. i think people in the national park service. and i'm actually going to say i would like to take this moment to thank the folks on the national park service for the remarkable work.

>> all right. >> i thought it was very characteristic i turned around to look john in the eye and thank him for working again. patrick, you'll have to convey the standing ovation. some people volunteering to stand, others already standing to do this. so i have to admit, i feel a great sense of responsibility at this moment. what could i possibly say? the meaning of these events that we just remembered seem very firmly embedded in our national story. there's a reason all of you came here today. you came here to see the story that you know. and in our national

understanding, appomattox is america at its best. the gentlemenly drama on this landscape showed americans to be principled, generous and fundamentally decent. the shaking of hands, the refusal of the sword, the unpretentious setting, the role of eli parker, the humility of general grant and general lee. all of those things tell us that the blood letting of the previous four years in which the equivalent of 8 million people today died and then an anomaly. the paired stories of confederate soldiers permitted to keep their horses and guns and of them then melting away

suddenly civilians, back to their homes has reassured generations of americans that americans are different from other nations. we are fundamentally unwar like, we tell ourselves. fundamentally unified. this is a story in our textbooks. this is a story we teach our children. story of our best sellers. and we like it because it shows us our best selves. it elevates soldiers into men of discipline, principle, restraint and courage. it allows everyone to be a hero. even an icon. now, general grant himself did much to create this version of the story. here's what he wrote in his great memoirs 20 years later dying in upstate new york, desperate to tell the story of the civil war as he lived in. he recalled of this day that he ordered no firing or salutes or other what he called unnecessary humiliation of confederates. they were, quote, now our

to exalt over their downfall. indeed, as you've heard from patrick, grant's own feelings, quote, which had been quite jubilant at the receipt of lee's letter were sad and depressed. i felt like anything rather than rejoicing at the downfall of a foe who fought so long and value valiantly. and he completes that same sentence. though that cause was, i believe, one of the worst for which a people ever fought and one for which there was the least excuse. so in one sentence grant is saying that he felt sad and depressed. and he admired a foe who fought long and valiantly and suffered so much. but the cause was the worst for which a people ever fought. that's the feelings that all americans have to wrestle with from that day on. that's a remarkable sentence. and it's self-contradictory. to find the understanding of the event ever since. the cause could not have been worse, and there was no excuse

for that fight, and yet, the man who led the fight had fought long and valiantly. now, the cause, of course, that grant identified was the dismantling of the united states. the world's most hopeful democracy to create a new nation that would be explicitly based on slavery. it was that severing of the cause and of the fight that established the bargain that the white north and the white south would hold on to for generations. despite the terrible cause, grant continued, quote, i do not question the sincerity of the great mass of those who were opposed to us. sincerity. indeed, who could've doubted the sincerity of the confederacy who had bled itself to death in

pursuit of that cause. the confederacy was profoundly sincere. the soldiers were sincere in their longing to leave the united states. sincere in their hatred in what they saw as an invading army. sincere in their hatred of the abolitionist and the black republicans that they blame for starting the war. sincere in their belief they had the best army and the best generals. they were never shaken in those beliefs all the way up to appomattox and beyond for generations. so general grant was right not to doubt their sincerity. now, general grant's portrayal of appomattox gave the white south what it most wanted and thought it had certainly earned. respect. the soldiers were not fooled

into fighting, they said. we were not traitors, they said, but were sincere believers that we upheld the same ideals that other americans upheld. our own freedom, our own independence, our own rights. they used exactly the same words as the northern counterparts and meant the same thing. as a result, the fighting in the confederates' eyes could be and was divorced from the worst cause for which a people ever fought. they would say that 3/4 of them were not slave holders, but that all were citizens and soldiers. and, indeed, the root cause that all knew somehow the cause of the war was buried deeply during most of the time during the war. the confederates never charged

into battle shouting about slavery. their generals never exhorted them to fight over slavery. the fact that the nation they fought to create was based on slavery was not the rallying cry, but it was the reality underneath. while grant and lee and their comrades met right behind us, slavery was dying elsewhere. it had been medical reportly wounded across the south during the war itself, dissolving everywhere it could dissolve. everywhere the united states army went. everywhere the slave holders fled. now, it was dying in the legislative halls in washington where the 13th amendment passed the u.s. senate the day before grant and lee met here. if grant's worst cause was not

slavery but rather the destruction of the united states, that, too, had been decided by the time people met here. the confederacy's purpose had already disappeared with richmond fallen, jefferson davis fleeing into the southern night, with sherman marching near the southern spring, with the confederate army scattered and powerless. and despite later fantasies of guerrilla fighting, that could not be a desperate and undisciplined tactic that lee would support. he knew the war was over here. the confederacy was over here. all the other confederate generals followed his example. though the war, slavery and the confederacy ended in the spring of 1865, no one could claim to

know what would come next. everything was up in the air when the events that we are commemorating today unfolded. the historian elizabeth varen has helped us to understand what happened here. quote, for grant, the union victory was one of right over wrong. he believed that his magnanimity, no less than his victory, vindicated free society and the union's way of war. his generosity of spirit, he intended to say, this is what the north is actually like. this is the spirit of generosity that we bring. she continues. grant's eyes were on the future, a future in which southerners chasened and repentant. was one of might over right. and if you listen to the orders that you just heard, it is that

we have succumbed to superior numbers and resources. it does not say that we have succumbed to a better purpose. in his view, southerners had nothing to repent of and had survived the war with their turning the clock back as much as possible to the days when virginia led the nation and before sexual extremism alienated the north from the south. he believed he was on the high moral ground. they were believing that they were on different high, moral ground. for supporters of lincoln and the republicans, including abolitionists black and white, grant's generosity of spirit proved their moral as well as

their material superiority. they were giving the south a chance to acknowledge that it was wrong as well as defeated. for supporters of the confederacy and for the many northern enemies of lincoln and his party, on the other hand, lee's dignity proved that the south could be restored to its place in the nation and that whatever slavery became would change the racial order as little as possible. throughout the war, lincoln's enemies in the north had called for the union as it was. and when lee was surrendering here, he believed that's what he was helping to restore. the union as it was. both republicans and the democrats, the north and the south claimed victory in the ceremony, claimed vindication for their cause, even though they claimed different things. now, it was no accident that lee and grant grew farther and farther apart as the months and years passed after this day. the powerful moment we

commemorate today, which seemed to stand outside of the war and outside of politics became ever more entangled in the messy politics that followed. and, in fact, appomattox became ever more elevated in our national imagination but not because it resolved what would follow, but because everyone could see in it what they wanted. they could see here their highest aspirations. the white south envisioned nothing like the reconstruction that would follow. they thought that the honorable surrender here meant, we fought, we lost, we're back in the united states. they did not imagine that the united states army would press on with reconstruction. they could not imagine that more

would be asked or demanded of them. they saw appomattox as the end, as a resolution, not as the beginning of a more profound revolution in american life. they could not have imagined that the same army that was gathered here would in two years help oversee the men who were held in slavery for 250 years up to this day would then become voting men in the south and america. they could not imagine that the enslaved people all around them here in virginia would be insisted upon being full citizens in the 13th and 14th amendments. that is not what they thought they were surrendering. and they did not believe that they were undergoing a revolution in which the north

would call the shots and american politics and public life for generation after generation to follow. now, many people in the north by contrast saw appomattox as a secession of armed hostilities but not a culmination of all the war had been. merely ending the legality of slavery did not end its spirit. that the freed people would have to be given a chance to make lives for themselves with law, with education, with an opportunity to gain property, with a right to the ballot box. and enemies of the south determined that it would not be permitted. an honored place in the white house, in congress, and the supreme court that it had enjoyed since the founding of the nation. the american south had controlled much of american history up until the civil war. white north says, no longer. we won the war, we will now run the nation. grant's generosity of spirit was the generosity not only of a general but of a man who thought he stood for the future. a future in which the south had sacrificed its place of authority in the united states.

now, lee and grant privately expressed their profound disappointment in each other over the next few years. that was one reason that grant became more devoted to black rights as president in 1868 than he had been on this day in 1865. he thought that the white south had not fulfilled the spirit of a surrender he struck here. when he saw the black codes being written within months of this time. the riots in memphis and new orleans, saw the ku klux klan rise up, he said that is not the spirit of appomattox, that's the spirit of revenge. that's a spirit of retaliation. it's a spirit to the contrary of what we agreed upon. lee, for his part burned with resentment that even though he had surrendered in good faith bringing the war and its purposes to an end, grant and

the north continued to press for more and more in the five years after appomattox. lee was appalled when grant was elected president of the united states. he wrote a cousin, our boasted self-government is fast becoming the jeer and laughing stock of the world. that's not very long after these days. but those are years that were filled with a profound reimagining of what this country might mean. what would it mean not only if slavery were gone? what would it mean not only if the north and the south were unified? what would it mean if black americans, 4 million of them, actually had chances to be full americans. so from lee's perspective, reconstruction was a violation of the bargain struck here. a bargain that would've restored things to as close to the way they had been in 1861 as

african-americans celebrated this place first, because of the role of the united states can colored troops here. the white southerners were much more ambivalent. this was not a place that white southerners flocked to. that's one reason that appomattox did not become a national park site until 1950. so it takes a long time for people to decide that what this place means, and it may not be an accident that it's the wake of world war ii, it takes them that long to decide, yes, this is the place that we want to remember the best that america is. this is the place we want to remember where america became reunited. the debates have never stopped. you may not be surprised to know that historians still argue about these things. that's because people see in these events the testimonies to american shared greatness, and testimony to promises unfulfilled. both of those things are real. let me be clear, it mattered enormously that the death and the suffering and the chaos ended here as it ended here. it did matter that the union army was gracious. it did matter that the

confederates went home peacefully. most civil wars as we can see on our television sets every day do not end this way. most civil wars end with rampant bloodshed. and while american politics were forever changed after this, outright war did not resume, though many people worried that it would. we should be grateful for the accomplishments that happened here. on the other hand, it did matter that fundamental issues of freedom, of rights, and of power could not be settled here. generations of struggle followed, and still follow, to fulfill those rights for all americans. i think that's why we all come here. we come here to remind us of how much sacrifice there was to create a foundation on which we can build. that's why today is important. it's not merely a celebration,

but a commemoration, a remembering of just what was at stake here. and what is at stake here was nothing less than the future of the united states and all the people who live in it. not an ending, but the beginning of a long journey in which we're still traveling, and that the best days 6 the united states lay not behind us, but before us. thank you very much. [ applause ] >> thank you, dr. ayers. the clock ticks toward 3:00 p.m. as the meeting between lee and grant neared its conclusion, the armies waited under flags of truce for whils around you. it's likely after 10:30 that

morning, not a shot echoed across this landscape. before official word of the surrender came out, confederates realized what the silence portended. they had risked everything in their quest for independence and any chance for recompense beyond pride was gone. a south carolinaian wrote, i cannot describe it. we looked into each other's faces, blank and fathomless despair was written, no one said a word. our hearts were too full for language. we could only murmur stupidly and meaninglessly the word surrender. artillerymen were sobbing, like children recovering after a severe whipping, he said. another said, simply, it was the saddest day of my life.

not surprisingly, more than a few union soldiers called it the happiest days of their lives. virtually all struggled to find words to describe the moment. a chaplain from a pennsylvania regiment wrote, it was grand to be there. the patient endurance and victories and defeat, and mismanagement and all the very gloom and sunshine of the four years' history of the army of the potomac crowded upon my mind. and now, it had its reward. its work is done. and well done. one soldier offered a simple synopsis to his wife at home. my dear, i can say now that the war is over, and i am still living. >> the march of death, as war neared the end and grief competed, for men continued to die. at precisely the same time that lee and grant were meeting in

the mclean house that afternoon, bells tolled in engine house number 20 in philadelphia, while mourners gathered at the home of a soldier and firefighter william hoover, for his funeral. hoover had been a member of the 99th pennsylvania of the army of the potomac, and captured in battle. from the "philadelphia enquirer," the deceased died from exposure while a prisoner in salisbury, north carolina. he was a member of the independence fire engine company number 20. his funeral was largely attended. the members of the independent engine company in a body with their ambulance followed the remains to their last resting place. the old bell and engine house

tolled the sad news of the death of one of its members. the fall of richmond and the imminent surrender of lee's army while soldiers still toiled and died, engendered an uncomfortable mix of joy and sadness among northerners. from the milwaukee sentinel, our foes are flying, but our friends are falling. if is a shame not to rejoice, but it is a sin not to weep. it is unjust not to greet the living to live to see their victories, but it is cruel not to mourn the dead who died in the sight of what they died for. whether we have their names or not, we shall have their deeds. the deeds of these dead on this field. all around the rebellious region for all time to come, there will be, they will wear this girdle sacrificial son.

they will remain without marble mausoleums and elaborate epitaphs, but they will be sacred. and in future ages will draw as many reverent feet as mecca, or the pyramid of egypt. >> as the mantle clocks around appomattox courthouse click toward 3:00 p.m. that sunday afternoon, the meeting between lee and grant in mclean's parlor came to an end. the two generals rose, and they shook hands. lee bowed to the other officers present, and he and charles marshall walked out the front door. when lee crossed the threshold back onto the porch and into mclean's yard, he walked into a landscape awash with both jubilation and sadness.

for union soldiers, jubilation. joy for the redemption of their four years of effort, and their sacrifice, joy for the union, joy for the promise of home, and safety. for slaves, jubilation at the prospect of freedom, though the road ahead seemed uncertain indeed. for confederates, despair, at a cause lost. an immense gamble unrewarded, the reality that they would leave appomattox with no more than pride after four years of toil and sacrifice. they would return to communities and towns often ravaged by war, to the empty beds and chairs of lost brothers, sons and fathers. few places have ever embodied so many emotions at odds as did

appomattox 150 years ago this moment. but when robert e. lee crossed that threshold onto mclean's porch with a copy of the surrender terms written by eli parker in his pocket, he did more than confront a place of deep emotion. he entered a new world, one in which the southern confederacy was no longer a possibility. the end of slavery was real, and an empowered united states confronted the immense challenges of reconstruction, reconciliation and justice. though few could see it that day, lee's ride from the mclean yard through appomattox to the throes of his defeated army was not an end, but a beginning, the

first act in a long national journey that continues still. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> forward, march! >> we will conclude our program here today with the ringing of ♪ ♪ ♪

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>> we will conclude our program here today with the ringing of this bell. on the morning of april 10th, 1865, the day after appomattox, caroline carl richards was sitting quietly eating breakfast in new york. suddenly she recorded, our church bell commenced to ring. and then the methodist bell. and now all the bells in town are ringing. mr. noah clark ran by, oh, excitement, and i don't believe

he knows who he is or where he is. i saw captain aldridge passing. so i rushed to the window and he waved his hat. i raised the window and asked him what was the matter. he came to the front door where i met him and he almost shook my hand off. the war is over. we have lee's surrender. with his own name signed. five days later, caroline richards looked out the same window and saw a group of men gathered around someone reading the morning paper. i feared from their silent motionless interest that something dreadful had happened. that afternoon, just days after the bells had rung in the aftermath of appomattox, the

bells rang again to mark the death of america's president. bells have always been a powerful form of public expression. they mark our celebrations, and our joys, our triumphs, and our tragedies. today in america, bells will toll again. at 3:15, the liberty bell will be struck. and bells across minnesota, and in downtown chicago, and in richmond, at the state capital, in delaware and california and kentucky and georgia and many more, at ebenezer baptist church in atlanta, bells will ring. and in churches across our land, in schools and courthouses, and even on street corners and in national parks. they will ring for four minutes,

one minute for each year of the war, a grand collective gesture in remembrance of the war's end. it is up to us here at appomattox to begin bells across the land. we will ring this bell, brought to us by the family of mrs. mccoy, who will ring it first today. her ancestors, her great-grandmother were once slaves -- great, great-grandmother was once a slave, and they acquired this bell after the civil war. we will ring this bell, and from here, the bells will reverberate across our land. for the first year of the war, ending in the spring of 1862, the year of manassas and shiloh and the realization that this war would be long and hard, i call for mrs. ora mccoy whose family provided this bell, and john griffith, the great, great grandson of general ulysses s. grant. >> the second year of the war,

[ bell ringing ] the second year of the war ending in the spring of 1863 the year of an teet up and fredericksburg and the emancipation proclamation i call forth ted c>> the second year o ending in the spring of 1863, the year of antietam and fredericksburg and the

emancipation proclamation, i call forth tad campbell of the sons of union veterans, the commander, and dennis big ela, the great, great grandson of lieutenant colonel charles marshall who was here at appomattox.

>> the third year of the war ending in the spring of 1864, the year of gettysburg, vicksburg, and the overland campaign. i call cadet warren jackson of the virginia military institute who saw so many serve here, and alvin parker, the great, great grand nephew of lieutenant colonel eli s. parker. >> the fourth year of the war, ending in the spring of 1865, sherman's march, the toils of

[ bell ringing ] >> the fourth year of the war >> the fourth year of the war, ending in the spring of 1865, sherman's march, the toils of petersburg, richmond falling, the war's end, relief, grief, and rejoicing.

i call forth sergeant clark b. hall, great, great grandson of charles h. hall, a u.s. marine corps veteran of vietnam, and first lieutenant samuel moseley, a korean war veteran, winner of the silver star and the purple heart. >> and now at precisely 3:15 on the afternoon of april 9th,

[ bell ringing ] >> and now at precisely 3:15 >> and now at precisely 3:15 on the afternoon of april 9th, 2015, bells will ring across america. [ applause ] join american history trch on sunday for live coverage of [ applause ]

you're watching american history tv on c-span 3 tv. 150 years ago this past thursday, confederate general lee surrendered