The Last Positions
N 37° 24.161 W 078° 46.360
17S E 697142 N 4141873
The Last Confederate Positions were deployed near here on April 8, 1865.
Waymark Code: WMKAJ
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 08/06/2006
Views: 23
The Confederate Army under the Command of General Robert E. Lee was deployed here on April 8, 1865. Near sunrise on April 9, 1865, the last shots were fired and the Confederate Army took its last breath. At 1:30 p.m. General Lee was met by General Grant in Wilmer McLean’s Parlor and surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia. The text of this historical marker reads:
THE LAST POSITIONS
"On 8 Apr. 1865, Gen. Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia, retreating from Petersburg toward Pittsylvania County, reached the hills to the northeast. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his Federal army, pursuing Lee to the south, blocked him here. At dawn on 9 April, Palm Sunday, Maj. Gen. John B. Gordon's corps, with Maj. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry, assaulted the Union line. Initially successful, the attempted breakout failed when additional Union infantry arrived on the field. That afternoon, Lee rode through the lines here to surrender his army."
Marker Number: MG-2
Marker Title: The Last Positions
Marker Location: Route 24. .6 mile west of Route 616
County or Independent City: Appomattox County
Web Site: [Web Link]
Marker Program Sponsor: Not listed
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