Battle of Appomattox Court House

Other Names: None

Location: Appomattox Court House, Appomattox County, Virginia

Campaign: Appomattox Campaign (March-April 1865)

Date: April 9, 1865

Principal Commanders: Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant [US]; Gen. Robert E. Lee [CS]

Forces Engaged: 63,285[US]; 26,000[CS]

Casualties and losses: 700 total (27,805 Confederate soldiers paroled)

Result(s): Union victory

Brief Description:

Early on April 9, the remnants of John Broun Gordon's corps and Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry formed line of battle at Appomattox Court House. Gen. Robert E. Lee determined to make one last attempt to escape the closing Union pincers and reach his supplies at Lynchburg. At dawn the Confederates advanced, initially gaining ground against Sheridan's cavalry. The arrival of Union infantry, however, stopped the advance in its tracks. Lee's army was now surrounded on three sides. Lee surrendered to Grant on April 9. This was the final engagement of the war in Virginia. This event triggered a series of subsequent surrenders across the South, in North Carolina, Alabama and finally Shreveport, Louisiana, for the Trans-Mississippi Theater in the West by June, signaling the end of the four-year-long war.