Well, it has been a year since my last post, I have been busy with some personal stuff, but now I am off again. So far I have visited 28 states and this trip will add 2 more. Well, lets get to it. My trip started early this morning, first stop Appomattox Court House, in Appomattox VA, 8 hour drive from Nashville. So the first thing I learn today is the difference between Court House and Courthouse 😊 I always thought Lee surrendered to Grant at the Courthouse in Appomattox, well I was wrong. The term ‘Court House’ in Virginia and I believe North Carolina, designates the County Seat, not a building. So back in the day, Appomattox Court House was a town and the county seat. At the time of the civil war, Appomattox Court House was a small farming community with a population of approximately 100 people, about half were slaves.
Grant was chasing Lee, who was trying to retreat to North Carolina. As Lee headed west, so did Grant’s forces cutting him off, at one point Grant captured 1000 of Lee’s men. Finally, in Appomattox Court House, Lee sent a courier with a white flag. For 3 days both Lee and Grant exchanged messages and met once in person agreeing on the terms of surrender. Finally on April 9th, 1865 Lee formally signed the surrender papers with Grant, it was Palm Sunday. The meeting took place in the parlor of the McLean House. Part of the terms was all the confederate soldiers were free to go home. In fact, they setup a print shop in the Clover Hill Tavern to print the parole forms or passes so the men could travel freely back home.
Like many civil war sites, it covers allot of area if you are up for a walk, which I was after traveling 8 hours. The Clover Hill Tavern started off as a roadhouse and stage stop and the community grew up around it. Many of the buildings are original. As for the McLean house, it was actually taken apart by a company to move to Washington DC for display, but the company went bankrupt. So the McLean house is original, re-built from the parts that were left on the original site. I thought the jail look more comfortable than some of the jails I saw out west. Even the slave quarters were a step up compared to the ones in Louisiana. Overall the national site had some displays with different items from that moment in history. You can tour the site in maybe 2 hours depending on your interest, so if you happen to be driving by, might be worth a stop. Was a great start to my trip.
