of appomattox.hat is where the next point of contact or supplies could be had. while heading in this direction on the north side of the appomattox river, two union corps army follow him. as that is 38 miles from here to here, with this line of march from here to here, it is only 30 miles. with lee making this move to the north river he has left a short road open to the union army. in the military, there is a movement called a pincers movement. that is what is happening here. now the union cavalry are moving around and getting in front of lee's army on the station at the appomattox courthouse. on the morning of april 9, after an engagement on the nine of the -- on the night of the eighth where the cavalry attacked and captured the trains for lee's army and the next morning general lee, whose main army is in the village of appomattox here, they now have union infantry behind them, union infantry in front of them and short after union infantry on the side. so basically lee is trapped in a pincers movem

station which appomattox station is currently the town of appomattox. that's where the train -- the next point of contact where supplies could be had. so while lee is heading in this direction on the north side of appomattox river, two union army corps followed him, gordon and long street. as that line of march is 38 miles from here to here, this line of march from here to here, it's only 30 miles. so basically what has happened is with lee making this movement to the north of the river, he's left a short road open to the union army. in the military there is a maneuver called a pinters movement and that's exactly what's happening here. as lee's army comes through appomattox courthouse and heads towards appomattox station, now the union cavalry followed by union infantry are moving around and getting in front of lee's army between the station and appear mattics courthouse. so on the morning of april 9th after an engagement on the night of the eighth where union cavalry attacked confederate artillery at appomattox station and captured the trains for lee's

at appomattox courthouse. it did, in the town of appomattox courthouse. the actual surrender took place at the home of wilmer mclean. the difference if you are saying the town of appomattox courthouse, it would be appomattox courthouse as two words. talking about the building courthouse would be one word. this is where the most significant events with the military took place in the spring of 1865, april 1865 with lee's surrender. we are going to walk down the stage road and discuss the battles of appomattox station and the battle of appomattox courthouse. that effectively ended lee's retreat. we are standing on the richman --- richmond-lynchburg stage road part of the retreat on april 8 and nine 1860 five. people wonder why it lee was heading towards appomattox courthouse after leaving richman and petersoburg. the idea was to concentrate his army at a million courthouse and linked forces in north carolina. he blocked general lee's line of retreat and generally had to continue west searching for rations and hop

was co-hosted by the appomattox courthouse civil park. and liz ben varon talks about the ending of the appomattox civil war. this is about 50 minutes. >> thank you. thank you very much. it is a pleasure and honor to be here and share the stage with these wonderful scholars. i'm grateful to patrick schroeder to having included me. so you have the surrender scene and i would like to turn to the surrender aftermath and the political debates spawned by appomattox and i'll argue that lee and grant had distinct visions of what an honorable possess would look like and -- peace would look like and the two of the myths of the gentlemen's meeting of the minds and they had fundamental visions of what an honorable peace would look like and why the war turned out the way it did. but i will try to take us beyond lee and grant as the appomattox drama unfolded the countrymen and women would crowd the scene and vest the surrender with their oesh as pir -- own aspirations and agendas and dreams and the dream in the eyes of african-americans and soldiers an

appomattox court house early appomattox courthouse.efore war came, the courthouse 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 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 cou

many people who come to appomattox don't realize the war did not end at appomattox. effectively, it does because once lee's army surrenders, the others follow suit. general joseph johnston surrendered at the bennett place to union general william sherman. jefferson davis was captured on may 10 and andrew johnson declared the war over on may 10, just a month after the surrender here at appomattox. there was still kirby smith with the army in texas and his official surrender is not until june 2, 1865. the surrender at appomattox was a multi-day process. after leeann grant met, they appoint commissioners to work out the details of how they surrender will take place. that is done by the commissioners on april 10 and the confederate cavalry is set to surrender their sabers and carbines, the artillery, and the bulk of generally's army surrenders on april 12. over 22,000 men and i will take you to to the road where they surrendered now. we are once again standing on the richburg/wichman stage road. the signals were the last artillery shots were fired on the morning of april

many people that come to appomattox do not realize the war did not end at appomattox. effectively, it does because once lee's army surrenders the others follow suit. two weeks later, general johnson surrendered in north carolina to union general william sherman. richard taylor surrendered his troops in louisiana and alabama on may 4. jefferson dallas was captured on may 10. war was declared over just a month after the surrender at appomattox. kirby smith in texas, his surrender is not until june 2 1865. the surrender here was a multi-day process. after lee and grant that at the maclean house on april 9, they appoint commissioners to work out the details of how the surrender will take place. that is done by commissioners on april 10. the confederate cavalry is set to surrender their sabers and carbines on april 10, artillery on april 11, and the bulk of general lee's army, the infantry, surrenders on april 12. over 22,000 men with the infantry. i will take you to the road where they surrendered now. we are again standing on the stage road. on front of me is a confederat

appomattox courthouse. after that a tour of the appomattox courthouse national park. >>> 150 years ago, appomattox courthouse in virginia was the site where confederate general robert e. lee surrendered his army to ulysses s. grant. next the commemorative ceremony. university of richmond president ed ayres. lee's departure. this is about an hour and 45 minutes. >>> my name is robin snider, and i being currently the acting superintendent at appomattox courthouse national historical park. it is my distinct honor on behalf of the national park service and united states postal service to welcome each of you here today on hadthis historic day in our nation's history. this courthouse village stands not just as a symbol of war's end but as a point of departure for a transformed nation. the significance of what took place in mr. mcclain's parlor settled the issue of who would be the victors of the american civil war, but many questions remain unanswered. soldiers echoed their thoughts in letters and diary entries.

appomattox courthouse, early 1855 -- 1865, appomattox courthouse was not unlike other communities in america. travelers came by lynchburg road for decades. he served as the villages postmaster and pharmacist. appomattox county was the county seat. it is an undeniable curiosity that the virginia legislator created appomattox county and designated this village as the seat. it is undeniable that local leaders decided to build the jail before they built the courthouse. once the courthouse opened in 1846, appomattox found that rhythm that persisted for decades. citizens gathered once a month to conduct business, run for office, sell goods, sell slaves. to witness court proceedings. it is likely and perhaps probable that appomattox's famous people at that time was the sweeney family, a band. and sir hicks went about his business and 1865, he was rounding up deserters. and george pierce lives across from surrender triangle, he was the county clerk. and -- lives across from the house, he was the commonwealth's return -- attorney. and be on the farms, -- beyond the farms, many people cultivat

appomattox court house early appomattox courthouse.efore war came, the courthouse 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 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 cou

host: when you drive into appomattox, there's a sign that says appomattox -- the place where our nationeunited. what do you make of that? elizabeth: the view of this as a moment of reunion and healing coexists with a more complicated battle over the meaning of the terms. it's a battle fought out by politicians and so forth. it's very powerful for americans because there was a strong sense in 1865 that america was ending its civil war in a way civil wars have not ended. our civil war was never destined to end that way because in the minds of the victorious union the point was to make the union whole again. reprisals were never in the cards. there was a powerful sense on the part of the people in the union that confederates had been led astray by their leaders and if they could just be distant drawled, they could be right back into the national old and a profound hope that mercy and magnanimity would speed that process. we see in the same newspapers debating the nature of the terms, we see americans congratulating themselves on the civil way they ended their civil war. these are sort of t

what, beyond appomattox? today to help us answer that question, we are joined by one of america's great historians david light -- blight. most of us in the history business follow the intellectual path blazed by others. most of us are able to make a small additions or slight corrections along the way to an idea or theme blazed, created or articulated by one with an intellectual spam far greater than our own. david white is one of the intellectual trailblazers the rest of us have followed. his great work on the legacy of the civil war, embodied in his magnificent book, race and reunion, the civil war american memory, fundamentally reset the public conversation about the place of the civil war in american culture and society. david blight is the class of 1964 professor of history at yale university, a director at the environmental center for the study of slavery, resistance and abolition. his list of publications and good works is very long and includes a book special to me -- "a slave no more: the powerful mem

of course, there is high bridge cumberland church appomattox station and appomattox courthouse, the latter two of which pat will be talking about today. there was fighting afterwards. it is the last major. years ago i was asked by my superiors in the national parks service to do a nomination of sailor's creek to put it on the national register. and so i did this long nomination and somewhere along the line it got bumped up to national historic landmark which is the highest ranking that a site can get. and so sailor's creek was of national significance to get that consideration. it is considered to be the largest surrender in the field of an army without terms following. in other words, the men who -- the 7,700 confederate soldiers that surrender at sailor's creek will go to prison camps and will not be released until all southern forces cease fighting which is not until the end of may. so the prisoners from sailor's creek will be in prison either at johnson's island in sandusky bay, ohio or at point lookout maryland. conversely, those who surrender at appomattox are paroled and allowed to

they found lee resting under that apple tree by the appomattox river. lee had with him only lieutenant colonel charles marshall, his aid to camp of his staff and an orderly named joshua johns. his other aid 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. the previous correspondence, grant offered to save lee the humiliation anymore that 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 wallaceñr 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. continued into the village behind us. and encountered wilmer mclean who was outside o

it is up to us here at appomattox to begin bells acrosspomatt the land.bell, brought is b to us by the family of mrs. mccoy who will ring it first ing today. her ancestors her great-grandmother were once slaves -- great great-grandmother was once a slave, and they acquired this af bell after the civil war. we will ring this bell, and from here the bells will reverberatete 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 thi war would be long and hard, i call for mrs. ora mccoy whose mrs. family provided this bell and john griffith the great, great grandson of general ulysses s. grant. >> the second year of the war 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 lieut lieutenant colonel charles marsha marshall who was here at appomattox.llmattles ma ll who was here at appomattox. [ bell ringing ]

we do come to appomattox to feel that, don't we? we want appomattox to sit still. to stop it. to make us solemn. in this place does. i have noticed, all of us lining the roadways during the stacking of arms and we all go stone silent. just as he said in the ending of that great book. he said that appomattox became despite thousands of soldiers with their accoutrements and weapons, it became a place of enormous silence. that is what we want the civil war to be. we want it to be done with. for those of us with an eye open, those of us aware of our political debate if we were sitting with the people from 1865 who might join us today to watch the debate with us about something, we might be having to explain something to them. -- why are you still having all of these debates about race? why are you still having all of these debates about federalism? now, i don't have much time left , but what i want to leave you with is basically this -- james baldwin, the great african american essayist, novelist, the voice of the civil rights movement -- at least the written voice of it, was alwa

. >> welcome to appomattox historical park. now we're standing in front of the historic clover hill tavern. this is the oldest building in the village, built in 1819. this area was called clover hill before it became appomattox courthouse in 1845. this was one of the later counties formed. and they took parts of the four surrounding counties and formed appomattox county in 1845. they had slaves working on tobacco farms. as of 1860, about 120 people lived here. people would stop at the tavern as they traveled along the stage road. the courthouse was finished maybe in 1847. there was a jail that burned during the war and a new jail was built across the road. interestingly enough, when people come to appomattox courthouse, they learned in their schoolbooks that the surrender took place at appomattox courthouse. well, it did in the town of appomattox courthouse, but the actual surrender took place at the home of wilmer mcclain. the difference in writing, if you're saying the town of appomattox courthouse, court house would be two w

they approached the river the appomattox using a fjord. he sent forward colonel marshal with the headquarter's aid to go into the village and find a suitable meeting location. as i mentioned the village was very much of a neutral location. marshal left an account of that ride. he said general lee told me to go forward and find a house. in the community there was the courthouse. no one is on trial. besides, what day of the week is it? it's sunday. it's locked and it's closed. he continued on where we could meet general grant and of all people whom should i meet, mcclain. i'm sure everyone or most of you probably heard of wilmer mclain. i rode up to him and said can you show me a house where general lee and grant could meet together. he took me to a house that was de dilapidated and had no furniture in it. it was a structure that stood out in front of his two story brick home which has an english basement. the house originally been built in 1848 probably as a tavern. this small building that the colonel was taken to was probably an ancillary

was co-hosted by the appomattox

appomattox court house early appomattox courthouse.ame, the courthouse 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 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 proceedi

the total for appomattox. the latest total that we have is 28,231 28,231. as you're going to see that is the smallest of the major surrenders. what makes appomattox unique as we talk about the others is both armies are in contact. we had this horrible ceremonies. we had a series of formal surrenders that take place over a couple of days. the two commanders meet face-to-face. they have one meeting to get everything settled right there. everything else is going to be entirely different as you're going to see. after the war, the mcclain house was dismantled in an attempt to move it and put it on display as a tourist attraction. unfortunately, the house was not moved. funds ran out and it's exposed to the weather and souvenir hunters so the mcclain house really disent grated in this condition.grated in this condition. the original house is gone. while this is unfolding and some of these events overlap, president davis and his party are retreating south. they've gone to danville to try to set up temporary capital. they keep moving south though. they learn about

the decision to controls the appomattox river on april 7th, and take a longer route west to appomattox station looks in hindsight as the wrong move. because it allowed sheridan and ord to take the shorter route west and arrive at appomattox before lee. no matter what mistakes lee might have made from our perspective 150 years later, there can be no question that his presence was about all that kept the army of northern virginia together. the most famous evidence of this is the oft quoted scene lee, atop a hill watching the fugitives from gordon's and anderson's corps fleeing from the yankee pursuers. the sight of him raised a tumult, wrote an eyewitness. fierce cries resounded on all sides. and with hands clenched violently and raised aloft, the men called on him to lead them against the enemy. it's general lee! uncle robert! where's the man who won't follow uncle robert. i heard this on all sides. now, the larger question i think during his retreat to appomattox was surrounding his decision to surrender the army. lee had received -- lee has received substantial criticism in the last 2

the decision to controls the appomattox river on april 7th, and take a longer route west to appomattox station looks in hindsight as the wrong move. because it allowed sheridan and ord to take the shorter route west and arrive at appomattox before lee. no matter what mistakes lee might have made from our perspective 150 years later, there can be no question that his presence was about all that kept the army of northern virginia together. the most famous evidence of this is the oft quoted scene lee, atop a hill watching the fugitives from gordon's and anderson's corps fleeing from the yankee pursuers. the sight of him raised a tumult, wrote an eyewitness. fierce cries resounded on all sides. and with hands clenched violently and raised aloft, the men called on him to lead them against the enemy. it's general lee! uncle robert! where's the man who won't follow uncle robert. i heard this on all sides. now, the larger question i think during his retreat to appomattox was surrounding his decision to surrender the army. lee had received -- lee has received substantial criticism in the last 2

the surrender appomattox, live april 9 and 12 here on american history tv on cspan3. >> all weekend, american history tv is featuring tulsa oklahoma. referred to as black wall street i booker t. washington, the greenwood district in tulsa was the center of black commerce in the early 1900s. together with our cox cable partners, the c-span staff recently visited many sites exploring tulsa's rich history. learn more about tulsa all weekend here on american history tv. woody guthrie: i got started in oklahoma. that is where i was born. the population is one third indian, one third negro, and one third white people. i have the -- hit the road when i was 12 years old traveling and working on jobs. that is where i picked up these songs. ♪ this land is your land this land is my land from california to the new york island from the redwood forest to the gulf stream waters this land was made for you and me ♪ >> woody guthrie's most famous for his writing of "this land is your land," but he was very much more than that. he was born in 1934 in oklahoma. we are proud to have this work back in okl

appomattox. this is under three hours. >> you were watching american history tv. host: a live look from the appomattox courthouse national historic park, if the site where 150 years ago, confederate general robert e lee surrendered his army to union general ulysses s. grant, effectively ending the civil war. we will be live from the park for the next three hours as the commemoration continues with reenactments of the gun stacking that took place on this day in 1860 five when more than 22,000 of general lee's infantry troops turned over their weapons and battle flags. we will bring you the sights and sounds of the ceremony throughout the coverage and later in the program, you will hear remarks from historian david blight who will talk about the legacy of appomattox. appomattox. we will also give you a chance to call in and talk with him and elizabeth varon from the university of virginia. we are joined by two men who played a starring role in the surrender ceremony you just saw. ulysses s. grant a

grant at appomattox courthouse and effectively surrendered the shuffle warcivil war. we'll be live sunday as historians reflect on the last battles and explore the aftermath and legacy of appomattox. we'll also open our phone call for authors david blight and elizabeth marron. that's sunday on c-span 3. >>> here are some of our featured programs for this weekend on c-span. on c-span 2's book tv saturday at 10:00 a.m. eastern president of americans for tax reform grover norquist says that americans are tired of the irs and our tax system and sunday night at 8:00 author susan butler on president franklin roosevelt and josef stalin allies during world war ii and their unexpected partnership beyond the war. saturday night at 8:00 eastern on american history tv on c-span 3, on lectures in history university of virginia's college of wise professor jennifer murray on how civil war reunions have changed from the reconstruction era to present. and sunday afternoon at 1:00 american history tv is live from appomattox courthouse national historical park commemorating the 150th an

sunday afternoon at 6:00 on "american artifacts," a tour of appomattox courthouse in virginia, the site of the confederate surrender on april 9, 18 exceed five -- 1865. >> all weekend, american history tv is featuring tulsa oklahoma. tulsa was an oil boom town in the early 20th entry. the rise in economic wealth led to the construction of elaborate art deco structures in the city's downtown. hosted by our cox cable partners, c-span's city tour's staff recently visited many sites showcasing the city's history. learn more about tulsa all weekend here on american history tv. dolph: i think and support to remember that the official title of our museum is the institute of american history and art, and what he was doing -- the thomas gill kreis institute of american history and art. what he wanted to do was be able to amass a collection that would tell the story of the americans not just united states of america, but material from northern canada, what today is alaska down through canada, what does become the united dates, central america, and south america. we cans be to the history of all o

was co-hosted by the university and the appomattox courthouse national historic park. next author mark bradley talks about the fighting in north carolina during the last months of the civil war. this is about an hour. >> thank you, david. can everyone hear me okay? >> yes. >> all right. well, we have watched the armies of grant and lee moving across the virginia landscape from the siege of petersberg, to the surrender at appomattox courthouse, now i'm going to make a detour. we're going to make a sharp turn south and turn back the clock. we're going back to december of 1864. and we're going to follow this man, general william t sherman and his progress in what he believes and hopes will be his final campaign of the war. now sherman and grant are pursuing the grand strategy that they formulated in march of 1864 in cincinnati, ohio. the idea was to keep the armies in the east and in the west, the confederate armies so busy that they cannot reinforce each other. and not have a repeat fiasco in the battle of chickamauga. and now this strategy is working slopely but inex or

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 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. ev