1. The Road to the Confederate Surrender at Appomattox Court House, VA Sunday, April 9, 1865

2. In late 1863, after searching for over two frustrating years, President Lincoln found the general he believed could finally win the Civil War for the Union….

3. Ulysses S. Grant As a commanding general, Grant was constantly on the attack. Knowing he had the advantages of men, weapons, and food over the South, Grant constantly looked to fight the Confederates. He knew he could wear the Southern Army out.

4. Under General Grant’s leadership, the Union Army began to wear down and dominate the Confederate forces. They also brought the war to the population of the South General William Tecumseh Sherman was sent into the South with a Union Army to engage in “total war” against the southern population.

5. “Total War” means to take the war to, and crush the will of, the population that supports the enemy army. “Sherman’s March” through Georgia left a path of destruction that convinced many in the South the war was lost.

6. By the spring of 1865, both the Confederate Army, and population of the South, were on the verge of collapse. Robert E. Lee was a great general with no real army left to lead.

7. In early April, General Grant and the mighty Union Army had Lee’s battered Confederate Army surrounded near the small town of Appomattox Court House, Virginia.

8. General Grant sent a message to General Lee giving the Confederate commander a choice …. Lee could choose to surrender and spare what remained of his battered army. If Lee refused, Grant would attack until Lee’s army was totally wiped out. General Lee had a decision to make.