The Final EpisodeSpring 1865

Lees troops were reeling

from nine months of siege at Petersburg Confederate troops were dying from sickness, malnutrition, and cold Confederate troops were deserting at an alarming rate

The Final EpisodeSpring 1865 Lee attempted one last assault on Union troops so that he could divert Grants attention long enough to evacuate Petersburg
Failed attempt as Lee lost

to Grant reinforced by Sheridan

The Final EpisodeSpring 1865

Grant launched his

final assault on April 1, 1865 Lee was forced to surrender Petersburg and Richmond (which were both quickly occupied by Union troops) and retreated

The Final EpisodeSpring 1865 Lees forces foraged for food and supplies, but found that the citizens of the area were just as bad off as they were Grants and Sheridans armies completely cut off any hope of escape for Lee

Appomattox CourthouseApril with Grant to surrender 12, 1865 Lee met

and hear the terms of surrender that Grant was to offer him 28,231 Confederate troops surrendered their arms and battle flags Lee was permitted to keep his sword and side arm (a gentlemanly gesture on the part of Grant- who had been accustomed to unconditional surrenders) The American Civil War was essentially over, but

Jefferson Davis is Caught

April 3, 1865- Jefferson Davis and the rest

of the Confederate government fled Richmond by train and headed to Danville, Virginia (final capital of the CSA) Jefferson Davis spent the next month running from the Union throughout the South
Issued his final proclamation to the Confederate

government Accepted Robert E. Lees letter announcing his surrender

May 10, 1865- Jefferson Davis is captured

by the Union Army in Irwinville, Georgia Davis spent two years in a Virginia jail and was released in 1867 and lived until 1889

End War Statistics

20% of the participants

died in service 618,000 dead (more than WWI and WWII combined) One million seriously wounded or severely ill $15 billion losses in

Lincolns AssassinationApril 14, 1865

The last casualty of the Civil War

was President Lincoln as he sat watching a play at Fords Theater in Washington, D.C. John Wilkes Booth (a Southern sympathizer) walked into Lincolns box and shot him in the back of the head Lincoln was carried across the street where he died from his wounds the next day Booth was hunted down and cornered in a barn, which they