On to Richmond

1. On to Richmond Leading to Surrender

2. Ending the War • While Sherman marched to Atlanta, Grant’s forces fought Lee’s army at three sites in Virginia • Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, and Cold Harbor • Both sides suffered enourmous losses • Lee expected Grant to retreat, but he rufused to admit defeat

3. Battle of the Wilderness

4. Spotsylvania Court House

5. Cold Harbor

6. Shenendoah Valley

7. On to Richmond • Grant moved his army closer to Richmond • Lee’s army followed • Tried to prevent the Yankees from reaching the capital

8. Petersburg, Virginia • Part of Grant’s army slipped past Lee and reached Petersburg, Virginia • All railroads supplying Richmond ran through Petersburg • If the Union could take Petersburg, they could take Richmond also • The Union army failed to take Petersburg and Lee’s army was able dig in and defend it

9. The Seige at Petersburg • June 1864 • Grant realized he could not take Petersburg • He decided only a seige could destroy Lee’s army • The Seige lasted 9 months • Both sides suffered heavy casualties • Grant could get new troops while Lee ran out of soldiers

10. Grant’s Victory • April 2 • Grant finally broke through Lee’s lines • The same day, the Confederate Government evacuated Richmond • April 3 • Union Troops enter Richmond • Lincoln visited the captured Capital

11. Petersburg and Richmond

12. Cheers for Lincoln • Thousands of African-Americans turned out cheering • “I know I am a free man for I have seen Father Abraham.” • Former Slave

13. Appomattox • When Richmond fell, Lee and his army retreated westward • Grant chased Lee and overtook him • Realizing that continued fighting would mean more lives lost, Lee dispatched a white flag and a request to cease fighting

14. Appomattox Court House • April 9, 1865 • Lee and Grant met in a house owned by a Southern farmer • Wilmer McLean • Appomattox Court House, Virginia • Dressed in his best Uniform with an engraved sword at his side, Lee waited at for Grant

15. Robert E. Lee “I have probably to be General Grant’s prisoner and thought I must make my best appearance.”

16. Ulysses S. Grant • Grant showed up wearing a rumpled coat and muddy boots • He had no sword • The greeted each other and talked

17. Terms of Surrender • Grant offered Lee generous terms of surrender • Confederate Men owned their own horses • They were allowed to keep them • Confederate Soldiers were given a day’s rations • Confederates allowed to keep side arms • Released Rebels on parole • Lee agreed and the two men shook hands

18. Victory Celebration • The Union soldiers began firing their cannons in a victory salute • He knew how humiliated the Confederates felt and ordered them to stop • “The war is over, the Rebels are our countrymen again”

19. Ending the War

21. Jefferson Davis • All other Confederate Generals eventually surrendered • Jefferson Davis fled • Union forces captured him in Georgia • May 26, 1865 • The long, bitter struggle that split the nation finally came to an end

22. Johnny Reb

23. Conclusion

24. Lincoln’s Assassination • Northerners’ elation over their victory lasted only a brief time • April 14, 1865 • Five days after Lee’s Surrender • Lincoln was attending a play • He was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth • A Confederate Sympathizer

25. Lincoln’s Assassination • Booth’s dead was a tragedy for both North and South • It removed the one person best equipped to resolve immense tensions in the country as it started to rebuild and reunite • Lincoln had looked forward to reuniting the nation from the outset of the war

26. Lincoln Assassination

28. Bibliography • Ritchie, Donald A., and Albert S. Broussard. American History: The Early Years to 1877. New York, New York: Glencoe McGraw-Hill, 2001. 594-597.