This April 1865 image provided by the Library of Congress
shows Federal troops in front of the Appomattox Court
House near the time of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s surrender to Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, in Appomattox,
VA. (AP Photo/Library of Congress)

On March 29, 1865, the final campaign of the Civil War began in
Virginia when Union troops under General Ulysses S. Grant
moved against the Confederate trenches around Petersburg.
General Robert E. Lee’s outnumbered Rebels were soon forced
to evacuate the city and begin a desperate race west.

 
Gen. Robert E. Lee’s surrender (left) to Union Lt. Gen.
Ulysses S. Grant.