“I ACCEPT THESE TERMS”: LEE AT APPOMATTOX

Walter Taylor, Robert E. Lee's aide, recounts Lee's surrender at Appomattox Courthouse. His account of the demeanor of Lee and Grant established the surrender narrative.

This painting, commissioned by National Geographic to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the surrender at Appomattox, appeared in the April 8, 1965 edition and is considered the best representation of the historic event.

The following excerpt is from Charles Marcshall’s memoir entitled "An Aide-de-Camp of Lee" published in 1927.

We struck up the hill towards Appomattox Courthouse. There was a man named McLean who used to live on the first battlefield of Manassas at a house about a mile from Manassas Junction. He didn’t like the war, and having seen the first battle of Manassas, he thought he would get away where there wouldn’t be any more fighting, so he moved down to Appomattox Court House. General Lee told me to go forward and find a house where he could meet General Grant, and of all people, whom should I meet but McLean? I rode up to him and said, “Can you show me a house where General Lee and General Grant can meet together?” He took me into a house that was all dilapidated, and that had no furniture in it. I told him it wouldn’t do. Then he said, “Maybe my house will do!” He lived in a very comfortable house, and I told him I thought that would suit him. I had taken the orderly along with me, and I sent him back to bring General Lee and [Orville] Babcock (ed. Babcock served as aide-de-camp to Grant), who were coming on behind. I went into the house and sat down, and after a while, General Lee and Babcock came in. Colonel Babcock told his orderly that he was to meet General Grant, who was coming on the road, and turn him in when he came along. So General Lee, Babcock, and I sat down in McLean’s parlor and talked in the most friendly and affable way. 

In about half an hour we heard horses, and the first thing I knew General Grant walked into the room. There were with him General Sheridan, General Ord, Colonel Badeau, General Porter, Colonel Parker, and quite a number of other officers whose names I do not recall. General Lee was standing at the end of the room, opposite the door, when General Grant walked in. General Grant had on a sack coat, a loose fatigue coat, but he had no side arms. He looked as though he had a pretty hard time. He had been riding and his clothes were somewhat dusty and a little soiled. He walked up to General Lee and Lee recognized him at once. He had known him in the Mexican war. General Grant greeted him in the most cordial manner, and talked about the weather and other things in a very friendly way. Then General Grant brought up his officers and introduced them to General Lee. 

Charles Marshall (left) described the uniform Lee (right) wore at the surrender as the most handsome uniform he had ever seen. (Library of Congress/American Civil War Museum)

I remember that General Lee asked for General Lawrence Williams, of the Army of the Potomac. That very morning General Williams had sent word by somebody to General Lee that Custis Lee, who had been captured at Sailor Creek and was reported killed, was not hurt, and General Lee asked General Grant where General Williams was, and if he could not send for him to come and see him. General Grant sent somebody out for General Williams, and when he came, General Lee thanked him for having sent him word about the safety of his son. 

After a very free talk General Lee said to General Grant: “General, I have come to meet you in accordance with my letter to you this morning, to treat about the surrender of my army, and I think the best way would be for you to put your terms in writing.” General Grant said: “Yes; I believe it will.” So a Colonel Parker, General Grant’s Aide-de-Camp, brought a little table over from a corner of the room, and General Grant wrote the terms and conditions of surrender on what we call field note paper, that is, a paper that makes a copy at the same time as the note is written. After he had written it, he took it over to General Lee. 

General Lee was sitting at the side of the room; he rose and went to meet General Grant to take that paper and read it over. When he came to the part in which only public property was to be surrendered, and the officers were to retain their side arms and personal baggage, General Lee said: “That will have a very happy effect.” 

General Lee then said to General Grant: “General, our cavalrymen furnish their own horses; they are not Government horses, some of them may be, but of course, you will find them out — any property that is public property, you will ascertain that, but it is nearly all private property, and these men will want to plough ground and plant corn.” 

General Grant answered that as the terms were written, only the officers were permitted to take their private property, but almost immediately he added that he supposed that most of the men in the ranks were small farmers, and that the United States did not want their horses.   He would give orders to allow everyman who claimed to own a horse or mule to take the animal home. 

General Lee having again said that this would have an excellent effect, once more looked over the letter, and being satisfied with it, told me to write a reply. General Grant told Colonel Parker to copy his letter, which was written in pencil, and put it in ink. Colonel Parker took the table and carried it back to a corner of the room, leaving General Grant and General Lee facing each other and talking together. There was no ink in McLean’s ink stand, except, some thick stuff that was very much like pitch, but I had a screw boxwood inkstand that I always carried with me in a little satchel that I had at my side, and I gave that to Colonel Parker, and he copied General Grant’s letter with the aid of my inkstand and my pen. 

These chairs and tables were used by Generals Lee and Grant to sign the terms of surrender at Appomattox Courthouse. (Smithsonian Museum of U.S. History)

There was another table right against the wall, and a sofa next to it. I was sitting on the arm of the sofa near the table, and General Sheridan was on the sofa next to me. While Colonel Parker was copying the letter. General Sheridan said to me, “This is very pretty country.” 

I said, “General, I haven’t seen it by daylight. All my observations have been made by night and I haven’t seen the country at all myself.” 

He laughed at my remark, and while we were talking I heard General Grant say this: “Sheridan, how many rations have you?” General Sheridan said: “How many do you want?” and General Grant said, “General Lee has about a thousand or fifteen hundred of our people prisoners, and they are faring the same as his men, but he tells me his haven’t anything. Can you send them some rations?” 

“Yes,” he answered. They had gotten some of our rations, having captured a train. 

General Grant said: “How many can you send?” and he replied “Twenty-five thousand rations.” 
General Grant asked if that would be enough, and General Lee replied, “Plenty; plenty  an abundance and General Grant said to Sheridan “Order your commissary to send to the Confederate Commissary twenty-five thousand rations for our men and his men.” 

One of the most unusual coincidences in history involves Wilmer McLean and his unfortunate choice of homes. In 1861, he lived near Manassas, where General Beauregard used his house as headquarters during the First Battle of Bull Run. Seeking a quieter environment, McLean relocated to the village of Appomattox. Interestingly, four years later, his home would again be drawn into the conflict. (The Photographic History of the Civil War , V. 3 (1911)

After a while Colonel Parker got through with his copy of General Grant’s letter and I sat down to write a reply. I began it in the usual way: “I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of such a date,” and then went on to say the terms were satisfactory. I took the letter over to General Lee, and he read it and said: “Don’t say, ‘I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of such a date’; he is here; just say, ‘I accept these terms.’” Then I wrote: Headquarters of the Army of Northern Virginia April 9, 1865, I received your letter of this date containing the terms of the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia proposed by you. As they are substantially the same as those expressed in your letter of the 8th instant, they are accepted. I will proceed to designate the proper officers to carry the stipulations into effect.

Then General Grant signed his letter, and I turned over my letter to General Lee and he signed it. Parker handed me General Grant’s letter, and I handed him General Lee’s reply, and the surrender was accomplished. There was no theatrical display about it. It was in itself perhaps the greatest tragedy that ever occurred in the history of the world, but it was the simplest, plainest, and most thoroughly devoid of any attempt at effect, that you can imagine. 

The story of General Grant returning General Lee’s sword to him is absurd, because General Grant proposed in his letter that the officers of the Confederate Army should retain their side-arms. Why, in the name of common sense, anybody should imagine that General Lee, after receiving a letter which said that he should retain his side-arms, yet should offer to surrender his sword to General Grant, is hard to understand. The only thing of the kind that occurred in the whole course of the transaction — which occupied perhaps an hour — was this: General Lee was in full uniform. He had on the handsomest uniform I ever saw him wear; and he had on a sword with a gold, a very handsome gold and leather, scabbard that had been presented to him by English ladies. General Grant excused himself to General Lee towards the close of the conversation between them, for not having his side arms with him; he told him that when he got his letter he was about four miles from his wagon in which his arms and uniform were, and he said that he had thought that General Lee would rather receive him as he was, than be detained, while he sent back to get his sword and uniform. General Lee told him he was very much obliged to him and was very glad indeed that he hadn’t done it. 

After that a general conversation took place of a most agreeable character. I cannot describe, it. I cannot give you any idea of the kindness, and generosity, and magnanimity of those men. When I think of it, it brings tears into my eyes.