Terms of the Surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia to the Army of the Potomac, Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia

    Source citation
    Reprinted in Benson J. Lossing, The Pictorial Field Book of the Civil War in the United States of America (Hartford, CT: T. Belnap, 1874), 560.
    Type
    Military record
    Date Certainty
    Exact
    Transcriber
    John Osborne
    Transcription date
    The following text is presented here in complete form, as it originally appeared in print. Spelling and typographical errors have been preserved as in the original.
    Appomattox Court-House. Va., April 9, 1865. 
    General — In accordance with the substance of my letter to you of the 8th instant, I propose to receive the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia on the following terms, to wit: Rolls of all the officers and men to be made in duplicate ; one copy to be given to an officer to be designated by me, the other to be retained by such other officer or officers as you may designate. The officers to give their individual paroles not to take up arms against the Government of the United States until properly exchanged; and each company or regimental commander to sign a like parole for the men of their commands. The arms, artillery, and public property, to be parked and stacked, and turned over to the officers appointed by me to receive them. This will not embrace the side-arms of the officers, nor their private horses or baggage. This done, each officer and man will be allowed to return to his home, not to be disturbed by United States authority so long as they observe their paroles and the laws in force where they reside. 
     
    "U. S. Grant, Lieutenant General. 
    "General R. E. Lee.'" 
     
    Head-Quarters. Army of Northern Vtrginia. April 9, 1865 
     
    General — I received your letter of this date, containing the terms of the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, as proposed by you. As they are substantially the same as those expressed in your letter of the 8th instant, they are accepted. I will proceed to designate the proper officers to carry the stipulations into effect. 
    R. E. Lee, General. 
     
    "Lt.-General U. S. Grant." 
    How to Cite This Page: "Terms of the Surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia to the Army of the Potomac, Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/index.php/node/43793.