Label These Civil War Figures at Appomattox Quiz

On April 8, 1865, Maj. Gen. George Custer reached Appomattox Station, VA, which was a few miles from Appomattox Court House. There his troopers successfully captured and burned three Confederate supply trains that were waiting for Lee's army, which was desperately in need of food and other provisions. This action helped force a surrender of the Confederates.

Custer was present at the McLean House during the formal surrender ceremony between Grant and Lee the next day, April 9. Custer is credited with preserving the Confederate flag of truce (which was actually a white linen dish towel) at Appomattox because he was the Union officer who received it from a Confederate staff officer. After the war, the flag was given to Custer's wife, Libby, for safekeeping and was eventually donated to the Smithsonian Institution, thus ensuring its preservation as a historical artifact.

Colonel Bowers, a former newspaper editor from Illinois who had served with Grant throughout the war, was a trusted staff member present at the McLean House on April 9, 1865, when Lee and Grant met. After the two generals agreed to the terms, Grant asked Bowers to transcribe the formal copies in ink. Overcome by the magnitude of the moment, Bowers' hand was too shaky, and he ruined several sheets of paper in his attempts. That very day he was brevetted a brigadier general for "gallant and meritorious services in the field during the war".

This elevated his status to a general officer.

Major General Edward Ord commanded the Union Army of the James. He led a 30-mile forced march overnight on April 8-9, 1865, successfully positioning his infantry to block Lee's army from accessing roads of escape. This finished the encirclement of the Confederate army, leaving Lee with no viable option but to surrender. General William T. Sherman later stated that Ord's "skillful, hard march the night before was one of the chief causes of Lee's surrender".

Ord was present in the parlor of the McLean House during the surrender discussion on April 9th. After the ceremony, Ord purchased as a souvenir the marble-topped table at which Lee had sat for $40, which is now housed at the Chicago Historical Society.

Major General Philip Sheridan commanded the Union Army of the Shenandoah cavalry. After devastatingly defeating Lee's forces at Sailor's Creek, VA, on April 6, 1846, Sheridan's forces pushed ahead, reaching Appomattox Station on April 8 before Lee's army. There, they captured and burned the supply trains that Lee was counting on to feed his starving men. His cavalry also blocked the Richmond-Lynchburg Stage Road, which was the last remaining potential exit for Lee's army.

After the success at Sayler's Creek, Sheridan had sent a message to General Grant that famously stated, "If the thing is pressed I think that Lee will surrender". This prompted President Lincoln to telegraph Grant, saying, "Let the thing be pressed".

Brigadier General John A. Rawlins was General Ulysses S. Grant's long-time, trusted chief of staff and closest confidant. In his role, he managed the flow of orders, reports, and communication for the entire general headquarters of the United States Army. Grant's communications with his field commanders, including Philip Sheridan and Edward Ord, passed through Rawlins and his staff.

On the morning of April 9, 1865, as Grant was traveling to meet Sheridan, he received Lee's final letter requesting a meeting to discuss surrender terms. Rawlins was by his side at the time and acted in his usual role as "Grant's conscience". Knowing that President Lincoln had explicitly forbidden Grant from discussing general peace terms with the Confederacy, Rawlins insisted to Grant that the final correspondence with Lee was solely for the "capitulation of Lee's army," not a general political peace treaty.

Ely Parker was a Seneca Nation engineer, lawyer, U.S. Army officer, and administrative aide to General Ulysses S. Grant. As Grant's military secretary and a lieutenant colonel, Parker was among the small group of Union officers present in the parlor of the Wilmer McLean house at Appomattox on April 9, 1865. His excellent penmanship and legal training made him the perfect person to transcribe the formal surrender document after Colonel Bowers became too nervous to complete the task.

General Lee was reportedly startled upon seeing a Native American Union officer. He extended his hand and remarked, "I am glad to see one real American here". Parker shook his hand and famously replied, "We are all Americans".

On the morning of April 9, 1865, Gen Robert E. Lee sent a final, direct message to General U.S. Grant requesting an interview to discuss specific surrender terms. The note reached Grant around 11:50 a.m. that day. Grant was several miles away from the front lines and was suffering from a severe headache when the officer carrying the dispatch arrived. According to Grant's own memoirs, "the instant I saw the contents of the note I was cured".

Grant arrived at the designated place at Appomattox Court House in a mud-splattered field uniform, reflecting the hard hard there, while Lee was in a clean, formal dress uniform. They exchanged greetings and Grant drafted the surrender terms, which were very lenient. Both generals signed the terms. Grant then allowed Confederate soldiers who owned horses or mules to keep them for spring planting and arranged for rations to be sent to Lee's starving troops.

On April 6, 1865, nearly a quarter of General Robert E. Lee's remaining army was captured by Union forces in a devastating defeat in Sailor's Creek, Virginia. Then two days later, Union cavalry captured and burned the supply trains he was counting on at Appomattox Station. By the morning by April 9, Lee knew the situation was hopeless. He famously stated, "Then there is nothing left for me to do but to go and see General Grant, and I would rather die a thousand deaths".

The meeting took place in the parlor of a house in the village of Appomattox Court House. Lee was dressed in a pristine, formal uniform and met the mud-splattered Grant to discuss terms. The Union's terms were generous and both generals signed the surrender document. On April 10, Lee issued his final General Order No. 9, which was an emotional farewell to his troops in which he praised their bravery and devotion.

Col. Charles Marshall was an aide-de-camp to General Robert E. Lee. On April 9, 1865, after General Lee and General Grant agreed to meet to discuss surrender terms, Lee dispatched Colonel Marshall to find a suitable location. Marshall encountered a local resident, Wilmer McLean, who offered his home for the meeting. Marshall then selected the McLean House parlor as the official site. Marshall was one of the few Confederates in the meeting at the parlor on April 9.

He was a lawyer by training and also helped draft Lee's initial response to Grant's proposed terms for surrender.

Lt. Col. Orville E. Babcock served as a Union engineer and later as an aide-de-camp to General Ulysses S. Grant. On April 9, 1865, after the final battle at Appomattox, Lee sent a message to Grant to discuss terms of surrender. Grant dispatched Babcock to find Lee and deliver his reply. Babcock found General Lee resting under an apple tree near the Appomattox River and delivered Grant's letter.

The myth that the surrender occurred under an apple tree stems from this meeting point. Babcock then helped escort Lee to the historic meeting.