American Civil War Primary Sources | General Horace Porter

"The Surrender at Appomattox Court House";
excerpt from Battles and Leaders of the Civil War

Covering events from April 1865; published in 1887

An eyewitness account of Lee's surrender to Grant

"The terms I propose are those stated substantially in my letter of yesterday—that is, the officers and men surrendered to be paroled and disqualified from taking up arms again until properly exchanged, and all arms, ammunition, and supplies to be delivered up as captured property."

General Ulysses S. Grant

During the first weeks of 1865, it appeared that the long and bitter Civil War between the North and the South was finally drawing to a close. The Confederate armies had fought valiantly (bravely) during the previous four years, but even the most optimistic Southerner had to admit that the war had swung in favor of the Union armies. In late...