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 hoping to get around grant's army. the next place generally could gather supplies was three miles from here at

. >> we are now in the parlor of wilmer mclean. after being surrounded, general lee wished to have a meeting with general grant to surrender his army. lee said charles marshall of his staff into the village to find a suitable place to meet and he encountered will reclaim -- wilmer mclean and he offered his own home. they sat at the marble topped table. general grant arrived about 1:30. he sat at the oval wooden table here. the two had met each other in the mexican war. that was the first discussion. they talked about the mexican war for quite a while. the conversation got quite pleasant and general lee reminded general grant of the nature of the meeting and asked general grant to put his terms in writing. grant sat down and set his terms in writing for general lee principally, the confederate officers would be paroled and allowed to go home. he was going to allow officers to keep their sidearms and personal baggage. general lee later requests and asks if his men can keep the horses. general grant initially says that is not in the t

wilmer mclean had married well. d in 1861, in addition to his pursuits as a sugar speculator and merchant he sizable plantation along bull run. a crossing of bull run borne mclean's name and became moderately famous during the first major battles of the civil war. two,u general beauregard made mclean's house the headquarters during the first part of the war and mentioned it in his reports. wilmerÑi mclean was no joel sweeney. so far as celebrities went, but he likelyc 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. 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 b

wilmer mclean had married well. d in 1861, in addition to his pursuits as a sugar speculator and merchant he sizable plantation along bull run. a crossing of bull run borne mclean's name and became moderately famous during the first major battles of the civil war. two,u general beauregard made mclean's house the headquarters during the first part of the war and mentioned it in his reports. wilmerÑi mclean was no joel sweeney. so far as celebrities went, but he likelyc 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. 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 b

wilmer mclean had married well. in addition to his pursuits as a sugar speculator and merchant he sizable plantation along bull run. a crossing of bull run borne mclean's name and became moderately famous during the first major battles of the civil war. two,u general beauregard made mclean's house the headquarters during the first part of the war and mentioned it in his reports. wilmerÑi mclean was no joel sweeney. so far as celebrities went, but he likelyc 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. 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.ñr

lee sent charles marshall into the village to find a suitable place to meet and encountered wilmer mclean. he sat here at this marble top table and general grant also arrived at about 1:30. he sat at the oval wooden table. the two had met each other in the mexican war and that was their first discussion. they talked about the mexican war for quite a while and the conversation got quite prevalent that -- got quite was in. generally reminded general grant the nature of the meeting and asked general grant to put his terms in writing. grant sat down and said his terms in writing for general lee, that confederal officers would be paroled and allowed to go home. he would allow officers to keep their side arms and personal baggage. general lee later requests that his men can keep their horses. rand initially says no that that is not under terms but thinks about it for a minute and says he understands most of these men are small farmers and can use those worse is. he will not rewrite it into the terms but will allow the confederate forces to keep their horses if they owned one. general lee said t

wilmer mclean and his family and slaves moved into the comfortable brick house next to us here. there, mclean would disappear from history, and till april 9 1865 when one of robert e lee's staff officers encountered him in the village. >> robert e lee, april of 1865 he was the most famous man not just an america, but perhaps in the world. the name has come to us as a man of marvel. a product of dignity and boldness. but there is more to him than that. he was deeply analytical and saw the implications of his acts more clearly than his admirers did. he became unshakable he committed to the success of the confederacy, for sustaining the differences between north and south by forging a new independent nation. and he did perhaps more than anyone else, came close to make it happen. robert e lee spent -- successes, perhaps unmatched in our history. his battles, every one of them spectacular. his victories brought him fame but more importantly they brought the confederacy --. while he won victories in virginia around the war effort, it stumbled. by 1863 we had a place in the public mind.

we're now inside the parlor of the home of wilmer mclean, appatomattox county resident, who moved here in the fall of 1862. general lee and general grant corresponded for over three days and finally after being effectively surrounded here general lee wished to have a meeting with general grant to surrender his army. lee sent lieutenant colonel charles marshall of his staff into the village to find a suitable place to meet, and he encountered william mclean and mclean offered his own home. lee arrived here about 1:00 sat here at this marble-topped table. general grant, after riding over 20 miles, arrived about 1:30. when he came in he sat at the oval wooden table here. the two had met each other in the mexican war, and that was their first discussion. they talked about the mexican war for quite a while, and the conversation got quite pleasant, and general lee reminded general grant the nature of this meeting and asked general grant to put his terms in writing. grant sat down and set his terms in writing for general lee. principally the confederate officers were going to be paroled and a

like wilmer mclean, come to these places.re honored today, we've ndents welcomed this morning a couple cel of -- a slew of notable descendents. this afternoon we're happy to to feature one of them once again for you, a man who is desended o h from the only confederate officer who accompanied lee into the mclean parlor that afternoon. inoon dennis big ela is the grate grandson of charles marshall. as i said the only officer to join lee inside the house. on most days mr. bigelow can beund found as a costume interpreter for james monroe, of james monroe county home originally known as highland. we've asked dennis if he would . take a few minutes this afternoon and share with you his wit perspective of having a family ctive connection to a historic event his of suchto magnitude and reach. mr. dennis bigelow. [ applause ] >> there's a chill in the afternoon and you've been wh sitting for a while. so you don't need a repeat of what you've heard so well in in terms of the particulars of what happened in the mclean house andouse the

and encountered wilmer mclean who was outside of his house, perhaps looking to have a guard posted athis 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. 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