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Today marks 161 years since Robert E. Lee's surrender to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox...
Posted on 4/9/26 at 7:36 pm
Posted on 4/9/26 at 7:36 pm
I think what really impresses me the most about the events surrounding that day is how the two enemies quickly became friends again. Ulysses S. Grant had been good friends with many in the Confederate high command before the war. After Grant received Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865, many of them came to pay their respects to him. One of those being James Longstreet, Lee's right hand man, and best friends with Grant before the war. The two had been at West Point together and served alongside each other in the Mexican War. Longstreet had even been a groomsman or best man (accounts vary) in Grant's wedding.
When the surrender had been administered and the two staffs began to mill around, Longstreet found Grant and the two shared a warm embrace. George Pickett, Henry Heth, and Cadmus Wilcox joined in on the reunion. Grant is reported to have said something of the following to Longstreet: “Pete, let us have another game of brag, to recall the old days which were so pleasant to us all.” ("Pete" was Longstreet's pre-war nickname).
I think it important to remember that even in the worst of times, when it seems like we have never been as divided as we are right now, men who led other men into combat against one another came together minutes after the shooting stopped and continued on as if nothing had ever happened. This is a good lesson to take into the future.
When the surrender had been administered and the two staffs began to mill around, Longstreet found Grant and the two shared a warm embrace. George Pickett, Henry Heth, and Cadmus Wilcox joined in on the reunion. Grant is reported to have said something of the following to Longstreet: “Pete, let us have another game of brag, to recall the old days which were so pleasant to us all.” ("Pete" was Longstreet's pre-war nickname).
I think it important to remember that even in the worst of times, when it seems like we have never been as divided as we are right now, men who led other men into combat against one another came together minutes after the shooting stopped and continued on as if nothing had ever happened. This is a good lesson to take into the future.
This post was edited on 4/9/26 at 7:37 pm
19
Posted on 4/9/26 at 7:39 pm to RollTide1987
Overrated because of the lost cause propaganda.
Posted on 4/9/26 at 7:40 pm to RollTide1987
quote:
I think it important to remember that even in the worst of times, when it seems like we have never been as divided as we are right now, men who led other men into combat against one another came together minutes after the shooting stopped and continued on as if nothing had ever happened. This is a good lesson to take into the future.
We are too far gone unfortunately.
Everybody thought slavery was gonna end, there was just a disagreement on the timing and process of it.
Today we have one side that thinks there should be no borders and that a woman can have a penis. Those are people that cant be reasoned with.
Posted on 4/9/26 at 7:47 pm to RollTide1987
quote:
what really impresses me the most about the events surrounding that day is how the two enemies quickly became friends again.
Romantic lens on war makes for great stories, historic tours and t-shirts.
Humanity lens on war of that rekindled friendship, juxtaposed next to 750,000 dead souls, and the romance ends faster than rigor mortis.
Posted on 4/9/26 at 7:50 pm to RollTide1987
Did either of them think a man could have a baby?
Posted on 4/9/26 at 7:51 pm to RollTide1987
I just finished Shelby Foote's civil war trilogy last week. I posted some thoughts on it on the book board but it didnt get any responses since its dead over there. Ill re-post here instead.
quote:
6 months and 3000 pages later i finally finished this beast. Was a hell of a ride and well worth it, but godamn am i ready for some lighter/fantasy reading after all that
Some thoughts:
Lee was the better general than Grant. He pulled off miracles with way less troops particularly at Chancellorsville and the 40 days in the summer of 64. He successfully predicted every single one of Grant's moves that summer and even turned both his flanks at the start of the engagement. He defended him at every turn until his army was half starved during the Petersburg siege and even then he needed Sheridan and his cavalry to finally flank him. His decision to charge at Gettysburg against all his generals advice was head scratching though, and arguably lost the south the war. It was over at the end of 63 especially after the siege of chatanooga was lifted.
Grant's siege of Vicksburg and unleashing of Sherman definitely deserve praise, but it seemed like he knew how much he outnumbered the confederates and his main strategy was to just throw soldiers at them piecemeal charge after charge because he knew he could afford the losses. His breakthrough at missionary ridge outside of Chattanooga was a mistake, he didnt tell them to charge that line, but it worked out due to Bragg's incompetence.
Stonewall, Forest, and Sheridan were the funnest to read about. Men amongst boys. I had not known that that's is how Stonewall went out, and Longstreet almost went the same way.
Davis held out for way to long. This thing was over with way before Lee finally surrendered. Even after he surrendered he still wanted to keep up the struggle. His refusal to dismiss Bragg after his bungling at Chickamauga was also a huge mistake and caused the siege of Chattanooga to be lifted. Crazy he outlived pretty much every big name of the war though, and went to his grave without ever apologizing and asking for pardon.
Kudos to Lincoln, Grant, and Sherman for offering such peaceful surrender terms. I believe this brought peace to the land way faster than if they would have brought an iron fist down on the south much like the world did to Germany after WW1 which was a big factor in causing WW2.
But the main takeaway is how sad this whole thing was. 600k American lives lost for nothing. Some of those battles were hard to read like Gettysburg and Fredericksburg with men running headlong into rifle and cannon fire. What a miserable time to be alive, and what a tough breed of men to endure those hardships of nonstop marches with no shoes and winters with no clothes just to wake up and have to charge a picket line full of guns on 2 hours of sleep and no food. My God.
Posted on 4/9/26 at 7:52 pm to Cosmo
quote:
We are too far gone unfortunately. Everybody thought slavery was gonna end, there was just a disagreement on the timing and process of it. Today we have one side that thinks there should be no borders and that a woman can have a penis. Those are people that cant be reasoned with.
Which one did we fight a civil war over again?
Posted on 4/9/26 at 7:57 pm to RollTide1987
I learned the other day that Lee surrendered only his Army, not the entire confederate army. Grant asked him to do so, but he declined saying he did not have the authority to surrender all the confederate armies in the field. And that order would have to come from Jefferson Davis. Also, Lee had no idea what would happen when he showed up to Appomattox. He was sure he was going to be Grants prisoner at the very least, if not killed. He was extremely surprised by the generous terms that Grant offered. Those terms came directly from Lincoln. He wanted Lee and his soldiers to become Americans once again. And once word got out about Lee’s surrender, the other Confederate generals started laying down their arms.
Posted on 4/9/26 at 8:02 pm to RollTide1987
I love the Wilmer McClean story with how the war started near him in Manassas so he moved to Appomattox to get away from it, only for it to end at his house.
This post was edited on 4/10/26 at 2:05 pm
Posted on 4/9/26 at 8:07 pm to Galloglaich
quote:
Overrated because of the lost cause propaganda.
Is this like the North's version of the Righteous Cause?
Posted on 4/9/26 at 8:08 pm to RollTide1987
Lee should have taken DC after Bull Run. Things would have worked out much better.
Posted on 4/9/26 at 8:22 pm to RollTide1987
Shoulda just gone with widespread guerrilla warfare rather than an "honorable" surrender.
Military occupations never last. They woulda eventually washed their hands of the situation and left.
Woulda been a very ugly period but likely worked out much better in the long run.
Military occupations never last. They woulda eventually washed their hands of the situation and left.
Woulda been a very ugly period but likely worked out much better in the long run.
Posted on 4/9/26 at 8:25 pm to RollTide1987
quote:
Robert E. Lee's surrender to Ulysses S. Grant
The saddest day in American history.
Posted on 4/9/26 at 9:05 pm to KingOrange
quote:
Lee should have taken DC after Bull Run. Things would have worked out much better.
That would’ve been a suicide mission
Posted on 4/9/26 at 9:08 pm to RollTide1987
I hope grant threw in a STYDB!
Posted on 4/9/26 at 9:14 pm to cfish140
quote:
Lee was the better general than Grant. He pulled off miracles with way less troops particularly at Chancellorsville and the 40 days in the summer of 64. He successfully predicted every single one of Grant's moves that summer and even turned both his flanks at the start of the engagement.
US Grant was the Georgy Zhukov of his time. No brilliant maneuvers, no clever deception in tactics. Just "more". Grant's answer to everything was just to throw more at the enemy. More men. More firepower. A wave of men get mowed down? Eh so what. I've got plenty more. Send in the next wave. The North beat the South because of More. There were obviously brave men and even brilliant officers in the North. But the biggest advantage the North had over the South was resources and demographics. In the end there's no substitute for having more than the other guy. And Grant knew it. Historians have often described his tactics as "meat grinder". That's exactly what they were. Grant was simply going to throw more men at the South than they could possibly stop.
Posted on 4/9/26 at 9:19 pm to Galloglaich
quote:
hat would’ve been a suicide mission
Would it?
Posted on 4/9/26 at 9:23 pm to RollTide1987
Lincoln was a tyrant
Posted on 4/9/26 at 9:46 pm to Lou Loomis
And a bunch of lunatics on Reddit think Lee should have been hung like the rest of the generals. Idiots not knowing how “done” everyone was with the war, not taking into consideration generals on both sides were old friends. Just vapid people who can’t see past their nose.
Posted on 4/9/26 at 9:50 pm to DesScorp
And that's how you win a war for the time.
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