Surrendering of the Army: Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia

Formidable Foe: Having fear or respect for something or someone because that thing or person is large, powerful and/or difficult. That is exactly how the Army of the Potomac saw Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia, a formidable foe.

On April 12, 1861, when South Carolina fired on Federal property of Fort Sumter and the Civil War starts, the Confederacy never thought four years later they would surrender in the state they did to Ulysses S. Grant and their long time rival The Army of the Potomac.

What led to this once great army? The Army of Northern Virginia under General Robert E. Lee was unstoppable up until June 1863. So what happened to make Lee surrender? Was it disease? Starvation? Lack of supplies to keep their war effort alive? Was it a specific battle that turned the tide of the war? Maybe the Union Army finally figured out how to defeat the Lee? Or maybe it was all the above?

We will look back and see why surrendering at Appomattox Court House was Lee’s last and only option on April 9, 1865.

Join Columbia Civil War historian and founder of the General Welsh Post 118 Cindy Beaston as she discusses the topic Surrendering of the Army: Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia.