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150th Anniversary: Lee Surrenders to Grant

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Written by
Jeff Wallenfeldt
Jeff Wallenfeldt was manager of Geography and History at Encyclopaedia Britannica.      
Jeff Wallenfeldt
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Surrender of General Robert E. Lee (right) at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, April 9, 1865, to end the American Civil War (Ulysses S. Grant on the left); hand-colored lithograph by Currier and Ives, c. 1865. Ulysses Grant, Robert E Lee.
© Photos.com/Thinkstock

On April 9, 1865, the commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, Gen. Robert E. Lee, surrendered to his Union counterpart, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, in Appomattox Court House, Virginia, thus effectively ending the American Civil War. At 3:15 PM (EST) on the 150th anniversary of the event, commemorative bells rang across the United States.

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