Robert E. Lee's chair from Appomattox
Robert E. Lee's chair from Appomattox
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- Description
- On April 9, 1865, General Ulysses S. Grant and General Robert E. Lee met in the home of Wilmer McLean at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, to negotiate the surrender of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia to the United States Army. Sitting in the chair on the left, Lee discussed the fate of his troops. Grant then, leaning over an oval table, drafted and signed the final terms of surrender. While there were still Confederate troops in the field under other commanders, Lee's surrender effectively marked the end of the Civil War.
- Union officers, recognizing the significance of the event, individually took pieces of furniture as souvenirs. General E. W. Whitaker grabbed Lee's chair, General Henry Capehart claimed Grant's chair, and General Philip Sheridan took the table and presented it to the wife of Major General George Amstrong Custer. In three separate donations, by 1915, these items were reunited at the Smithsonian Institution.
- Object Name
- chair
- Date made
- before 1865
- associated date
- 1865-04-09
- user
- Lee, Robert Edward
- used
- United States: Virginia, Appomattox Court House National Historical Park
- associated place
- United States: Virginia, Appomattox
- Physical Description
- wood (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 45 1/2 in x 18 1/2 in x 20 in; 115.57 cm x 46.99 cm x 50.8 cm
- ID Number
- PL.015820
- catalog number
- 15820
- accession number
- 59140
- catalog number
- 15820
- Civil War
- See more items in
- Political and Military History: Political History, General History Collection
- National Treasures exhibit
- Military
- Government, Politics, and Reform
- Exhibition
- Price of Freedom
- Exhibition Location
- National Museum of American History
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Gerald Baker
Sun, 2017-01-01 15:54