Battle of Appomattox Court House - 150 Years Ago

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The Battle of Appomattox Court House, fought on the morning of April 9, 1865, was one of the last battles of the American Civil War. It was the final engagement of Confederate Army general Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia before it surrendered to the Union Army under Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. Lee, having abandoned the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, after the ten-month Siege of Petersburg, retreated west, hoping to join his army with the Confederate forces in North Carolina. Union forces pursued and cut off the Confederate retreat at the village of Appomattox Court House. Lee launched an attack to break through the Union force to his front, assuming the Union force consisted entirely of cavalry. When he realized that the cavalry was backed up by two corps of Union infantry, he had no choice but to surrender.

The signing of the surrender documents occurred in the parlor of the house owned by Wilmer McLean on the afternoon of April 9. On April 12, a formal ceremony marked the disbandment of the Army of Northern Virginia and the parole of its officers and men, effectively ending the war in Virginia. This event triggered a series of surrenders across the south, signaling the end of the war.

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My mother's family is from Stokes County NC and fought for the Confederacy. My Grandmother told me stories she heard from her Grandmother who lived during the time of the civil war. I've always been fascinated by that period in American history and often wonder where we would be if things had turned out differently.

This is a picture (not a very good one but hey, it's 150 yo) of a relative of mine, Moses Lawson, in his confederate uniform:


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The spirit of Appomattox Court House

My family is from East Tennessee and fought for the Union. My great-great-great (maybe one more great?) grandfather died in Andersonville Prison.

My GGGF Abraham died 10 days before Appomattox at Battle of Jones Farm. He was a sniper for the Bethel Regiment, First North Carolina Volunteers. Taken prisoner at Gettysburg covering Lee's retreat, spent a year as a guest of the Union at Point Lookout, MD, traded out then KIA a year later. Book written about that regiment is titled " More Terrible Than Victory".

My great-great-great-great grandfather grew potatoes in Ireland.

But I did take my sons to Antietam National Battlefield 2 weeks ago...you know, for history and such.

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Originally Posted by ICEHOCEY77

My family is from East Tennessee and fought for the Union. My great-great-great (maybe one more great?) grandfather died in Andersonville Prison.

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Ouch - Andersonville. Horrible horrible place.

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Originally Posted by Grape_Ape

My great-great-great-great grandfather grew potatoes in Ireland.

But I did take my sons to Antietam National Battlefield 2 weeks ago...you know, for history and such.

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Praties! (as the Irish call them). My Dad's family was from Ireland. Made the crossing in the 1890s and settled south central Illinios (Chatsworth)

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Originally Posted by telebobski

My GGGF Abraham died 10 days before Appomattox at Battle of Jones Farm. He was a sniper for the Bethel Regiment, First North Carolina Volunteers. Taken prisoner at Gettysburg covering Lee's retreat, spent a year as a guest of the Union at Point Lookout, MD, traded out then KIA a year later. Book written about that regiment is titled " More Terrible Than Victory".

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It is entirely possible sir that our family histories crossed paths (6 degrees of Kevin Bacon!)

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On May 11, 1861, the 1st NC Volunteers were formally organized. Now the 1st would go to Virginia and see its first action at Big Bethel on June 10, 1861. They would be led by Colonel D.H. Hill, brother-in-law of Stonewall Jackson. In the engagement at Bethel, Private Henry Lawson Wyatt would be the first and only death. Private Wyatt was the first Confederate dead of the war. The 1st would now return to North Carolina where it would be re-formed into the 11th North Carolina Troops and asigned to the Department of North Carolina. For the next two years the 11th would serve in eastern North Carolina. The newly formed 11th NC would be made up of ten companies: three from Mecklenburg County, two from Burke County and one from Bertie, Chowan, Orange, Lincoln and Buncombe. The 11th would now see action in eastern North Carolina. They would do provo duty around the city of Wilmington, N.C., and also see some action in White Hall and the Seige of Washington, N.C.

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The leader of the Mccoy clan is my great great uncle or something like that. We fought for the union.

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Originally Posted by mtngirl79

The leader of the Mccoy clan is my great great uncle or something like that. We fought for the union.

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Of the "Hatfield- McCoy Feud"?

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During the Civil War, McCoy served as a soldier for the Confederacy. He may have even been a part of the same local militia as his later nemesis, William Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield. While most of the McCoys supported the Confederacy, his brother Asa Harmon McCoy fought for the Union side. When Asa returned home, he hid out in a cave for a time. But he could not avoid his Confederate neighbors forever. In 1865, he was shot and killed by someone who objected to his Union sympathies. It is believed by some that either Devil Anse Hatfield or his fellow Confederate leader Jim Vance murdered Asa.

Initially, some considered Asa Harmon McCoy's death as one of the causes of the Hatfield-McCoy feud. Others have ruled it out, saying that the McCoys were staunch Confederate supporters, too. They probably did not take kindly to Asa's Union activities. The bad blood between the two families did not develop until much later.

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You are right... it was just the one guy. Depending on who who tells the story, the emphasis is different.

Sometimes it was the civil war, Rose and the Hatfield boy, the killed pig...

I just reread "Mr. Lincoln's Army" by Bruce Catton. I've always been fascinated by the Civil War.

Currently through about the first half of Shelby Foote's 2nd of 3 volumes. Good stuff


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Are you thinking this while riding the apple plantation on ole Rusty?

Union ancestors here. Central NY

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Originally Posted by KQ

It is entirely possible sir that our family histories crossed paths (6 degrees of Kevin Bacon!)

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My peeps hail from Tusquittee NC, near Smackass Gap

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Originally Posted by KQ

I've always been fascinated by that period in American history and often wonder where we would be if things had turned out differently.

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They may yet. An electoral map after a presidential election makes a pretty good approximation of a civil war map. Or as Jon Stewart put it--Romney carried the Confederacy.

Civil wah! Hell I can see that frum mah porch.

John Brown still walks around here, sometimes with a dog.

Bad person he is.

Ken Burns is my next door neighbor.

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Originally Posted by telebobski

My peeps hail from Tusquittee NC, near Smackass Gap

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Yes, as they say in North Carolina: "Where are your people from?" My people were tobacco farmers in Stokes County along the Virginia border. After the war, because they no longer had ummmm, cheap labor, they deeded a large portion of their plantation to the city that was later named after them - Lawsonville, NC

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Originally Posted by flatlander#2

Are you thinking this while riding the apple plantation on ole Rusty?

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LOL! Not thinking about it riding but I do find it interesting to think that on this very day 150 years ago Grant and Lee sat in a small room in Virginia and ended a bloody civil war. It's not just a history of this country but also a history of my family (and very cool to hear others here speak up of their history!)

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