Civil War Tour: Appomattox

June 2015

Fort Sumter is considered the starting location for the Civil War.  Appomattox is considered the ending.  Appomattox Court House is actually the name of the town, and Appomattox Court House National Park is the name of the park.  This is where the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia occurred.  The buildings of the village had fallen into disrepair.  The park is a historic renovation of the buildings, on the actual foundations. 

It was and is a farming area.  The land is still hayed.

They have a number of re-enactors to interact with the visitors and give talks.  One admired Anne's hat as being very proper, although they felt bad that she didn't have whole shoes to wear (she was wearing sandals). 

In the case of the McLean house, where the surrender document was signed by Lee and Grant, the house had actually been dismantled, with the intention of reassembling it near DC as a commercial museum, but that plan never materialized.  Luckily, the people behind that plan had left detailed information on reassembling the house, so the park service was able to replicate it correctly. 

The famous room where the signing with Grant and Lee occurred:

One of the bedrooms:

Since the building had been disassembled, only a few of the belongings are the ones that had been in the house at the time, but they are all representative of what would have been there.  This vase is in the rococo style, like a Boucher.

The interior kitchen, in the basement of the house:

Most of the cooking was done by the slaves in the exterior kitchen.  This building also had the laundry area. 

The rooms in the slaves quarters (the building on the right of the picture above) were vastly different than the ones in the main residence.

At the tavern, there was a man using a printer press from that era, and was printing 'passports' for the confederate soldiers to go home.  These documents were to prove that they were not deserters, but had been released from service and should be allowed to return to their homes.   

This knoll is where Chamberlain had his troops Carry Arms, to honor the defeated Confederate soldiers, to show respect for their efforts and reinforce that they were once again countrymen.  (If you are interested in reading more, the Battlefields.org site has an interesting article and interview with Chamberlain about this event.)

Many of the older signs and plaques in the area (put up by various groups such as Daughters of the Confederacy) are disturbing in their lack of acknowledgement of the plight of slaves.  While we can appreciate having pride in your ancestors for their efforts, it would be nice to see them updated!

We hope you enjoyed these pictures from our vacation. 

Updated April 2026