April 10, 1865

If I am not mistaken, today is the day that the Army of Northern Virginia bivouaced west of a little village called Appomattox, Virginia. General Lee sent a messenger east toward the headquarters of General Grant and they agreed to meet at Appomattox Court House, in the home of a local farmer, a farmer who had witnessed the Battle of First Mannassas and decided to move southwest to get away from the war. On this date, the two general met and politely discussed their former connections. Both generals were polite to each other, despite the fact that they really didn't have any close connections, other than having served in the Mexican War together. However, by the end of the day, the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia was effectuated and the war in that part of the south was over.

Afterward, General Lee and his assistants mounted and returned to his army where he informed them that they were now private citizens and could go home with their horses, if they had any. General Lee went to Richmond where he was reunited with his family. Within a year, he had been offered and he accepted the position of President of Washington College in Lexington, Virginia. While there, he probably did more to make the college a modern, thriving institution of higher education. Unfortunately, his most important lieutenant general had been dead for several years, now buried in the Lexington Cemetery. Life ultimately returned to normal in Rockbridge County and when General Lee died on a rainy day in October 1870, his son took over as his successor as President. Later, they were both buried in the Lee Chapel at Washington and Lee.

Within four days of General Lee's surrender, Abraham Lincoln would be assassinated while watching "Our American Cousin" at Ford Theater in Washington DC. That would be Good Friday, 1865.