The End of the Civil War April 9th, 1865

Today is the 154th anniversary of Confederate General Robert E. Lee formally surrendering the Army of Northern Virginia to Union General Ulysses S. Grant. Coming just days after the fall of Richmond, the Confederate capital, this event effectively brought the Civil War to an end.

By early 1865, the infrastructure of the southern states was in shambles, and supplies vital to the war effort for the Confederate States and Army was not to be found. After incurring several battlefield defeats and being surrounded by Union forces, General Robert E. Lee met with General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia on April 9, 1865, and surrendered his exhausted army.

Although other elements of the Confederate Army surrendered later, however April 9th 1895 is marked as the effective end to the American Civil War where over 600,000 soldiers were killed. Each side, the Confederate and Union armies each lost approx 25% of their respective armies with another 475,000 soldiers from both sides wounded. This is compared to the total combat and non-combat deaths of the American Revolution which over eight years totaled approx 25,000.

Some little known facts surrounding the surrender of the Confederate Army:

Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered to Union Major General William Sherman on 26 April 1865 basically surrendering the Confederate military departments of Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, Florida, North Carolina and Southern Virginia.

Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, was captured on 10 May 1865 by Union Cavalry forces in Georgia. He tried to escape custody dressed as a woman but was discovered. He was subsequently held prisoner for two years in Fort Monroe, Virginia.

Confederate General Kirby Smith surrendered his 43,000 man Army of the Trans-Mississippi on 26 May 1865 when it became apparent that continued hostilities would be futile.

Cherokee Brigadier General Stand Watie commanded the Confederate Indians, made up of Cherokee, Seminole, Creek, and Osage Indian soldiers, when he surrendered on June 23, 1865. This was the last significant Confederate active ground force, and General Watie was the last Confederate general to surrender in the American Civil War.

On 20 August 1865, President Andrew Johnson, succeeding the assassinated Abraham Lincoln, declared all hostilities of the Civil War over with the succession of the insurgency in Texas. Damn those Texians - not knowing when to quit!