March 29th: The Day the American Civil War Effectively Ended — The Prelude to Appomattox

Ten Days Before the War's End — How It Began

The morning of March 29, 1865. Across the muddy fields of Virginia, tens of thousands of Union soldiers began to move. Their commander: General Ulysses S. Grant. Their objective: one thing only — to encircle Robert E. Lee's Confederate forces and bring four years of war to an end. No one knew it yet, but this march would lead, exactly ten days later, to the most dramatic surrender in American history.

A Exhausted Confederacy, Backed Into a Corner

By early 1865, the situation for the Confederate forces was dire. General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia had been enduring Grant's siege in the trenches of Petersburg for nine months, and his men were crumbling under starvation and desertion. General Sherman was burning his way through Georgia and the Carolinas, marching northward, and supply lines were being severed one by one.

Lee's last hope was to break out of Petersburg and link up with General Joseph Johnston's army. But to cut off that escape route, Grant officially launched the Appomattox Campaign on March 29th.

Ten Days of Pursuit

The campaign that began on March 29th was a breathless chase. On April 1st, the Confederate right flank collapsed at the Battle of Five Forks, and the next day the Petersburg defenses were breached. Lee led his troops in a desperate westward retreat under cover of night, but Grant's army pursued relentlessly.

On April 6th, at Sailor's Creek, roughly one-quarter of the remaining Confederate forces were taken prisoner. Lee escaped, but his surviving army had dwindled to just 28,000 men — surrounded on all sides by Union troops.

Then, on April 9th, at the McLean House in Appomattox Court House, General Lee signed the surrender documents. Four years, 620,000 lives, and the fracturing of a nation — it ended just like that.

After the Surrender — Grant's Remarkable Choice

The most striking moment of all came immediately after the surrender. When Union soldiers began cheering and firing celebratory salutes, Grant ordered them to stop at once. "The Confederates are our countrymen again. There is no reason to rejoice at their downfall." Confederate soldiers were permitted to take their horses and mules home with them, and food was provided to those who were starving. Reconciliation, not revenge — that was the way Grant chose to end the war.

President Lincoln, too, until his assassination just five days later, repeatedly delivered the same message: do not punish the enemy.

🎬 This History on Film and Television

Steven Spielberg's Lincoln (2012) is set during this very period. It tells the story of Lincoln, portrayed by Daniel Day-Lewis, orchestrating behind-the-scenes political maneuvering to pass the Thirteenth Amendment (abolishing slavery) before the war's end — a story that connects directly to the historical fact that Lincoln was assassinated shortly after hearing news of the surrender at Appomattox. The film focuses heavily on political negotiation, however, keeping battle scenes to a minimum.

Gettysburg (1993) depicts the 1863 battle, but it remains an essential work for understanding the turning point of the Civil War. It stands out for its faithful recreation of actual battlefield terrain, though it has also drawn criticism for romanticizing the Confederate generals.

Ken Burns' documentary The Civil War (1990), a nine-part series, brings the Appomattox surrender to life through vivid photographs and letters. It is widely regarded as the definitive model for historical documentaries.

In Closing — The End Was Just the Beginning

March 29, 1865 was not the end of the war — it was the beginning of the end. Ten days later, the surrender came, and America was one nation again. But the road to reconstruction was long and hard, and the promise of racial equality would remain unfulfilled for decades to come. The march that began in the mud of a Virginia spring that year may, in some ways, still be continuing today.