Every Confederate appreciates the magnanimity exhibited by General Grant at Appomattox; and it has been my pleasure for nearly forty years to speak in public and private of his great qualities.

In speaking of his feelings as " sad and depressed, " as he rode to meet General Lee and receive the surrender of the Southern armies at Appomattox, General Grant says: " I felt like anything rather than rejoicing at the downfall of a foe who had fought so long and valiantly, and who had suffered so much for a cause, though that cause was, I believe, one of the worst for which a people ever fought, and one for which there was the least excuse. " He adds: " I do not question, however, the sincerity of the great mass of those who were opposed to us.

Appomattox je u okrugu s oko 15.000 stanovnika, oko 160 kilometara jugozapadno od Richmonda, glavnog grada Virginije.

After Appomattox, Lee discouraged Southern dissenters from starting a guerrilla campaign to continue the war, and encouraged reconciliation between the North and South