Visiting Appomattox

This past Saturday, Carolyn and I visited Appomattox Court House National Historic Park. Not only was it full of interactive and rich Civil War-era history, but it is also free to go and visit any time they are open. Because it has been so long since I learned about this time period in history class, I did not realize Appomattox was the site where General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant which ended the Civil War. It is incredible that the place the Civil War ended is only a 30-minute drive outside of Lynchburg!

It was a lot of fun to roam around the historic town and learn about different parts of the Civil War. The Courthouse has been turned into a museum with lots of information, artifacts, and paintings from all over the country telling the narrative of the War. One of the most fascinating parts was reading letters from soldiers to their loved ones; you could really begin to understand what he was going through mentally and emotionally.

We were also able to visit the County Jailhouse, the Tavern, and the McLean House. The Jailhouse was fun to explore, and it was interesting thinking about the kinds of war prisoners that might have been locked up all that time ago. The Tavern also had lots of plaques, information, and paintings to take in. There was a printing press in the Tavern; I thought that was an interesting place to have a printing press, but I suppose that is where people gathered at the time to pass on information. I found it especially interesting reading about Lincoln’s assassination. Because the letter was from a Confederate soldier, he spoke happily about Lincoln’s death. It was shocking because most things you read about Lincoln are positive, and I had never thought about it from the perspective of the Confederacy before.

The last place we visited was the McLean House. They were obviously a wealthy family; their kitchen and slaves’ quarters were located behind the house. However, this House was most interesting because the sitting room was where General Lee actually signed the surrender. It was very cool to see the painting of the surrender alongside the room itself. It looked very similar to how they had the room set up to look like. The slaves’ quarters were interesting because they were not as cramped and run down as most people would think they would be. I think because it was likely the quarters for the slaves who did the housework instead of those who worked in the fields, they probably lived in a little nicer conditions.

It ended up being a beautiful day, and it was a great place to walk around and learn more about history. They also have tours you can take and storytellings you can attend. The storytellers are dressed up in period costumes and speak in antiquated English. It was fun to experience– almost like a mini-Williamsburg! I would definitely recommend going to visit.