Where It All Ended by bmac62
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Description
McLean House, Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia. [Site of the surrender of The Army of Northern Virginia in the Civil War of the USA.]
At midday on April 9, 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee rode into the front yard of this house, dismounted, and disappeared into the McLean House. Union General Ulysses S. Grant, surrounded by generals and staff officers, soon followed. Dozens of officers, horses, and onlookers waited outside. After 90 minutes, Lee and Grant emerged. To the silent salutes of Union officers, Lee rode back through the village - to his defeated army.
Today, this house sits in the middle of Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, Appomattox, Virginia. The war dragged on for another month but General Lee's surrender effectively ended the Confederacy and organized, armed resistance to the government of the USA.
Comments (14)
durleybeachbum
Beautifully framed, and a very interesting narrative.
junge1
A beautifully framed shot Bill and a interesting and informative narrative and this coming from a retired Army officer, I know that the facts have been checked. lol
Faemike55
great shot and cool information - we were never taught this in school.
now that I think about it, I see our country going into another civil war soon unless we restore a sense of humanity and civility and soon.
auntietk
What Andrea said. The framing, in particular, is beautifully done.
wysiwig
I am such a history nerd! As soon as I saw the title I knew what this was. First time I've it like this. Outstanding capture. What is not taught, unfortunately, is what Lee said to his army after the formal surrender. He urged his men to swear allegiance to the Union, fold their Confederate battle flags and put them away in the attic. Something our super patriots of today might learn from.
helanker
Amazing the house is still there :-) Lovely capture.
sossy
fabulous view onto this interesting building! I only read about Lee in the book series fire and stone from Diana Gabaldon 😊
T.Rex
Thanks, Bill. So now I know what this place looks like, too. Nice photo. I wonder how many of the trees were standing back then. Thanks for the info that the war dragged on for another month. The same as in Germany after the signing of surrender, enclaves refused to surrender, often civilian, resulting in a 2 month continuation, ferreting out Nazis. Seem as though some southerners had the same feelings inside back in 1864 - never surrender. Very sad. Keep up the good work. :-)
kenmo
A very relaxing scene....
jayfar
Wonderful history and a fantastic shot Bill.
Richardphotos
it was an unbelievable and terrible period in the history(an estimated 620,000 men lost their life). the blind hatred of north and south shows what humanity can do. of course slavery was not new then and still is practiced in many countries now today. I really appreciate you sharing your travels here. I know now ,I must travel to Virginia also.
I made an error in the amount of people to lose their life, so I corrected it.
RodS
I love how you've framed the old mansion in between the trees, Bill. A wonderful look at this historic place. Interesting about the war dragging on for another couple of months - although in some ways, I think it drags on still...
jendellas
I agree with the other comments, beautiful & super info.
anahata.c
I skipped ahead to this one because I'm at an hour and I have to move on, once more. I wanted to get to at least one of your Civil War shots. (I'll be back for more, again.) While this shot has obvious historical importance, it's also a beautiful and very 'bill' shot---for the clarity, the classical composition (how the mansion's framed between the trees, as Rod says), the play of light and dark; and (because of your pov) the wonderful zig-zag of the fences. The formal elements are so strong, we forget there are some people in there. That big front tree kind of feels like the weight of the war. And the mansion has a certain haunting, hidden feeling, as would befit its purpose. Beautiful shooting. And a moving, somber narrative.
(Yes, Lee was a noble soul, and his surrender showed great dignity, as Mark intones. It's just too bad that he owned ((and sometimes brutally beat)) slaves, and led a magnificent battle to preserve so horrible an institution, which was a genocide. He may have been doing his duty, of course. But he seemed to be a man who was wise enough to know the difference...It would've been nice if he had fought for a better cause...)