Eyewitness to the Last Meeting of Grant and Lee at Appomattox

The morning after the surrender at Appomattox, Generals Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant met on the eastern edge of town. Along a road near a stream, the two men, accompanied by their staffs, chatted for about a half hour. During the meeting, a Union officer happened upon the group and watched respectfully from a distance. He is Col. Charles S. Wainwright, Chief of Artillery of the 5th Corps. Here's his recollection of the event, and his thoughts about the surrender.
"Life on the Civil War Research Trail" is hosted by Ronald S. Coddington, Editor and Publisher of Military Images magazine. Learn more about our mission to showcase, interpret and preserve Civil War portrait photography at militaryimagesmagazine.com and shopmilitaryimages.com.
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Image: Library of Congress.
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[@jim99west46]

Amazing !!! Thank you

[@mattpiepenburg8769]

Ah to be a fly on a horse or wall to witness CSA generals in a post-war tavern or Grant and Lee in conversation… After so much bloodshed, passion and sacrifice on all sides, to simply track that day in April for expressions and words would be priceless

[@kennethtyree4770]

No, what would be priceless would be to hear Sherman and Johnston's conversations during their post war activities working together. Johnston was first to hear about Lincoln's headshot from Sherman and remarked, this is the worst calamity for the South to bear at this time.

[@kennethswain6313]

This would be a great Segway to the next surrender at the Bennet farm. This event gets far less attention and accounts for a larger portion of confederate army

[@yisroelkatz-xj6pq]

Ron this was exceptional reporting! Thank you for your information!

[@tacraling]

The historic nature of those events couldn't have been lost on him as he watched Grant and Lee, even though he couldn't then have known what history would be made later, with Grant becoming President, etc. Thanks for sharing this and also the details about the cleverly improvised fireworks!

[@watchthetriple8224]

I feel we have lost the ability to speak eloquently in 2023 like they did back then. Anything we read from that time period is so descriptive and well articulated you can actually imagine the scenes.

[@wesleybarton3871]

So true. Even the regular infantry soldiers on both sides wrote well structured sentences, they would get high grades in college English classes in the 1960s. I say 60s because colleges today don't have students that could write as well.

[@lifeonthecivilwarresearchtrail]

I get great joy from reading 19th century texts. Words matter, and choosing the best words to describe events and emotions was essential to writers of the time to accurately communicate. These writers inspire me.

[@watchthetriple8224]

I read so many civil war memoirs and I feel like every one of them was written by the actual person who experienced it and I can see everything they say. No ghost writers like I feel you have today that might add a possible exageration or fib.

[@kennethtyree4770]

Your point is well taken and well known. PBS special War Letters, a moving example.

[@joshuakatherine6251]

Any idea what percentage of the soldiers on each side were literate? Enlisted vs officers?

[@brianhannan8030]

Thank you again kind Sir 😌

[@johnwayneeverett6263]

Thanks so much.

[@Paul-vf4wv]

We cannot verify if this guy was being truthful. Sounds like he was everywhere, just by amazing accident

[@josephjones5233]

I thought General pickett was with joseph johnson in north Carolina at that time?

[@mattlevault5140]

Pickett was at the Battle of Five Forks about 80 miles east of Appomattox only a week before. I suggest you look into Pickett's involvement in the infamous "Shad-bake" incident.

[@josephjones5233]

Yes wasn't that were Lee asked A P Hill why is that man in my army

[@kensilverstone1656]

I didn't even know about the second meeting. Do you know whether General Grant said anything about it in his memoirs, or General Lee in his letters?

[@lifeonthecivilwarresearchtrail]

Grant mentions it in Volume II of his Memoirs, page 348: books.google.com/books?id=ERo8AQAAMAAJ In Recollections and letters of General Robert E. Lee, there is a passage about Lee meeting Meade on April 10, but not Grant: archive.org/details/recollectionslet00inleer/page/154/mode/2up?q=appomattox I suspect there are other accounts out there!

[@kensilverstone1656]

@@lifeonthecivilwarresearchtrail Thanks, I have the two volumes.

[@wayneantoniazzi2706]

The lesson to a lot of us should be that after a long and bloody war If Colonel Wainwright didn't hold a grudge or any animosity against his Confederate opponents what excuse does anyone born long after the Civil War have for hating them? You can hate the "Cause" but don't hate the men who fought for what they considered really important, their homes, families, and each other. Oh, and there WAS one other last meeting between Lee and Grant. In 1869 Lee was called to testify before a US Senate committee, I forget what about. After his testimony Lee stopped at the White House and had a pleasant visit with then-President Grant.

[@ML-ul2zq]

Too many folks still believe in The Cause.

[@wayneantoniazzi2706]

@@ML-ul2zq VERY few. I live in Virginia and most folks here don't give it a thought anymore. At any rate what has that to do with the observation I made concerning Colonel Wainright?

[@douglawyer51]

Thanks for your work, enjoy learning about this. 👍