However, the men had no more that started to eat their bacon and cornmeal when Union General Sheridan arrived and started a fight. Luckily, it was nearly night, and the Confederate force snuck out under cover of the dark. But not before General Lee received General Grants first request for surrender.

NOWHERE TO RUN

The Confederates, in their rush to leave Farmville in the night of April 7th, did not get the rations they so desperately needed, so they were forced to forage for food. Many chose to desert and leave for home. General Lee saw two men leaving for home and said "Stop young men, and get together you are straggling" and one of the
soldiers replied "General, we are just going over here to get some water" and Lee replied "Strike for your home and fireside" (Freeman, Douglas Southall, R.E. Lee: A Biography, Vol 3. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1935): they did. Rebel forces reached their objective, Appomattox Court House, around 3pm on April 8th. Lee received word that to the south, at Appomattox Station, supplies had arrived by train and were waiting there. However, the pursuing Union forces knew this also and took a faster southern route to the station. By 8pm that evening the Federals had taken the supplies and would wait there for the evening, preparing to attack the Confederates at
Appomattox Court House in the morning. Meanwhile, Lee scribbled out a brave response to Grant's inquiry simply asking for explanation of the terms to be involved in the surrender.



THE FINAL BATTLE

At daybreak the Confederate battle line was formed to the west of Appomattox. The Union soldiers were in position in front of the line with cannons. When the Federal cannons started to fire, the Confederate signal for attack was sounded and the troops charged. One soldier later remarked: "It was my fortune to witness several charges during the war, but never one so magnificently executed as this one." (McCarthy, Carlton, Detailed Minutiae of Soldier Life in the Army of Northern Virginia 1861-1865. Richmond: Carlton McCarthy, 1882) This Confederate advance only lasted from about 7am to 9am, at which time the Rebels were forced back. The Confederates could no longer hold their lines and Lee sent word to Grant to meet at 1pm to discuss surrender. The two men met at the now famous McLean House and a
surrender was agreed upon. It was 2pm on April 9, 1865.