McLean's House,
Appomattox Court-House, VA (April 7, 1865)

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On the evening of the 7th of April 1865, General Grant, under a flag of truce, sent a letter to Gen. Lee, demanding a surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia in order to avoid the further effusion of blood. On April 8th, some correspondence passed between Grant and Lee, the Confederate army retreating toward Lynchburg, followed by the Second and Sixth Corps, whilst the calvary and the Union Fifth and Twenty-Fourth Corps made forced marches in order to pass around and gain the front of the Confederates. At the same time, General Lee, in person, appeared with a flag of truce, and, by letter, asked for a suspension of hostilities, pending negotiations for a surrender. About four o'clock in the afternoon of that eventful Sunday, the glad tidings were announced throughout the Union armies that the Army of Northern Virginia had surrendered. The excitement amongst our troops was unparalleled, officers and men uniting in the most extravagant demonstrations of joy. The photograph represents the house in which the terms of capitulation between Generals Grant and Lee were signed. The apple tree (about half a mile from the Court-House) under which they first met, has been entirely carried away in pieces, as mementos, not even the roots remaining.
It is a singular fact that the owner of this house, Mr. McLean, was living on the first Bull Run battlefield at the time of that engagement, and afterwards removed to this place for the purpose of being secure from the visitation of an army.

Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the Civil War - Plate 99