The war was coming to an end by January of 1865. At that time, Federal, Union, armies were spread throughout the Confederacy and the Confederate Army had greatly shrunk in size. The year before the North had suffered a huge loss of lives, but had more than enough to lose in comparison to the South. General Ulysses S. Grant became known as the "Butcher" and many wanted him removed. (Grant, Ulysses S., Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant. New York: Charles L. Webster & Co., 1894.) The war continued as Lincoln stood firm with his General. This paper will cover the events between the winter of 1864-1865 and the surrender of the Confederate States of America and will show that April 9, 1865 was indeed the end of a great tragedy.

General William T. Sherman and his army cleared the civilian population of the city of Atlanta in September of 1864, t

Grant's decision that the only way to win and finish the war was to crunch with numbers. He knew that the federal forces held more than a modest advantage in terms of men and supplies. Grant directed Sherman to turn around and head back toward Virginia with this in mind. He immediately began making preparations to provide assistance to Sherman on the journey. General John M. Schofield and his men had just defeated the Confederates in Nashville and were to disengage from the Army of the Cumberland and then proceed toward North Carolina. His final destination was to be Goldsboro which was roughly half the distance between Savannah and Richmond. He was to meet Sherman and his troops of 50,000 there with his troop of 20,000.

Charles Scribner's Sons, 1935.) The soldiers did as General Lee suggested. Rebel forces reached their objective which was Appomattox Court House, around 3:00 pm on April 8th. Lee had received word that supplies had arrived to the south by train at the Appomattox Station. The pursuing Union forces also knew about these supplies and took a faster southern route to the station. The Federals had taken the supplies by 8:00 pm and would wait at the station for the evening while preparing to attack the Confederates at Appomattox Court House the following morning. Lee meanwhile scribbled out a brave response to Grant's inquiry asking for an explanation of the terms to be involved in the surrender.

The Civil War was a tragic event. A war in which thousands died in their home country over nothing more than a difference in opinion. Although slavery was the cause of the Civil War half of the country thought it was wrong and the other half just couldn't free them. The war was fought in probably 10,000 different places and the monetary and property loss cannot be calculated. The Union soldiers that died numbered 360,222 and only 110,000 of them died in battle. Confederate dead were estimated at 258,000 including 94,000 that actually died on the battlefield. The Civil War was a waste in terms of human lives and possible accomplishment. Tragedy had struck a new country and tarnished it for eternity. The Civil War will never be forgotten and will live on in the hearts and minds of Americans forever.

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