Appomattox Court House > Village of Appomattox Court House
The Surrender Ceremony wayside marker is on the northeast side of Appomattox Court House Village.
From the wayside marker:
The Surrender Ceremony
“As my decimated and ragged band with their bullet torn banner marched into its place, someone in the blue line…called for three cheers for the last brigade to surrender… [F]or us this soldierly generosity was more than we could bear. Many of the grizzled veterans wept like women, and my own eyes were as blind as my voice was dumb.”
Major Henry Kyd Douglas, CSA
Throughout the day on April 12, 1865, shattered Confederate divisions marched into the village to surrender their weapons and flags. Union troops lined the Richmond-Lynchburg Stage Road to beyond the McLean House. Confederates – many of them racked with tears – marched between the two Union lines to lay down their arms.
By day’s end, about 22,000 Confederates had marched into the village and stacked arms. Hundreds more refused to do so, and simply left their weapons in camp. April 10 through 15, the Confederates received their paroles. The long journey home, and the difficult road to reconciliation, began.
From the caption in the lower right of the marker:
This contemporary sketch (above) is perhaps the most accurate representation of the surrender ceremony. Gen. Joshua Chamberlain – commander of Union troops receiving the surrender – is on horseback at upper left.
Location
The Surrender Ceremony wayside marker is in front of the Jones law Office on the northeast side of Appomattox Court House Village, about 750 feet due east of the Visitor Center and on the west side of Prince Edward Court House Road.