Across The Fence: Surrender, April 9, 1865

The date of April 9, 2015, marked the 150th anniversary of Lee's surrender at Appomattox. Thirty days later that bloody conflict – of four long years – would come to an official end. The negotiations leading up to the meeting of Generals Grant and Lee, and that historic event are best told by their own correspondence and eyewitness accounts as preserved in historical documents.

Grant to Lee: "5 P.M., April 7th, 1865.

The results of the last week must convince you of the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia in this struggle. I feel that it is so, and r...