we are once again standing on the richmond lynchburg stage road. in front of me is confederate artillery piece that signifies where the last artillery shots were fired on the morning of april 9th. also in front of me is the home of george pierce. he was the county clerk. and on the evening of april 11, 1865, he had a special guest for dinner, general joshua chamberlain, who had set up his headquarters tent in his yard. at this dinner, chamberlain brought with him coffee, real coffee that pierce hadn't had in well over a year. and over the course of their dinner conversation, pierce undoubtedly learned that chamberlain was in charge of the actual surrender ceremony for the confederate infantry on the morning of april 12th. chamberlain has his men lining this road from the lee grant meeting site all the way up to the mclean house on the morning of april 12th at about 5:00. his men are out here for several hours before the confederates approach, and they start leaning on their rifles, talking amongst themselves. but as the confederate troops approach,

we are once again standing on the richmond-lynchburg stage road. in front of me is confederate artillery piece that signifies where the last artillery shots were fired on the morning of april 9th. also in front of me is the home of george pierce. he was the county clerk. and on the evening of april 11, 1865, he had a special guest for dinner, general joshua chamberlain, who had set up his headquarters tent in his yard. at this dinner, chamberlain broughtwoman him coffee, s&l real coffee that pierce hadn't had over the course of a year. and over the course of their dinner conversation, pierce undoubtedly learned that chamberlain was in charge of the actual surrender ceremony for the confederate infantry on the morning of april 12th. chamberlain has his men lining this road from the lee grant meeting site all the way up to the mclean house on the morning of april 12th at about 5:00. his men are out here for several hours before the confederates approach, and they start leaning on their rifles, talking amongst themselves. but as the confederate troops

folks would stay at the clover hill tavern as they traveled along the richmond-lynchburg stage road. the courthouse was built in 1846, maybe finished in 1847. there was a jail that burned during the war and a new jail was built across the road. interestingly enough, when people come to appomattox courthouse, they learned in their schoolbooks that the surrender took place at appomattox courthouse. well, it did, in the town of appomattox courthouse but the actual surrender meeting took place at the home of wilmer mclean. if you're talking about the building, courthouse would simply be one word. this is where the most significant events with the military took place in the spring of 1865, april 1865, with lee's surrender. now we're going to walk down the richmond-lynchburg stage road and discuss the battles of appomattox station on april 8th and the battle of appomattox courthouse on the morning of april 9th that effectively ended lee's retreat. we are standing on the historic richmond-lynchburg stage road, which was a critical part of general lee's retreat on april 8 and april 9, 1865.

we are once again standing on the richmond-lynchburg stage road. in front of me is confederate artillery piece that signifies where the last artillery shots were fired on the morning of april 9th. also in front of me is the home of george pierce. he was the county clerk. and on the evening of april 11, 1865, he had a special guest for dinner, general joshua chamberlain, who had set up his headquarters tent in his yard. at this dinner, chamberlain broughtwoman him coffee, s&l real coffee that pierce hadn't had over the course of a year. and over the course of their dinner conversation, pierce undoubtedly learned that chamberlain was in charge of the actual surrender ceremony for the confederate infantry on the morning of april 12th. chamberlain has his men lining this road from the lee grant meeting site all the way up to the mclean house on the morning of april 12th at about 5:00. his men are out here for several hours before the confederates approach, and they start leaning on their rifles, talking amongst themselves. but as the confederate troops

lynchburg stage road, fritsch lee decided to escape where he could. he didn't know they were able to take their horses. a bullet struck him and knocked him off his horse. a physician said he was a dead man, so they pinned a note to his jacket to let his father in richmond know of his death. as he's left dying on the battlefield, he pulls out a piece of paper and writes a rather moving death letter to his mother. he says, my darling mother. i am dying, but i've fallen where i expected to fall. our cause is defeated but i do not live to see the end of it. i suffer agonies. wish to god i could die calmly, but i must see his will be done. my latest regret to leaving this world is to leave you and the rest of the dear ones. the younger children will be more comforting to you than i have been, but none of them will love you more. that is his death letter to his mother. but a fellow surgeon named norris with the new york regimen actually finds minnegurre on the battlefield, operates on him, removes the bullet and saves his life. so in the end he doesn't die

we are once again standing on the richmond-lynchburg stage road. in front of me is confederate artillery piece that signifies where the last artillery shots were fired on the morning of april 9th. also in front of me is the home of george pierce. he was the county clerk. and on the evening of april 11, 1865, he had a special guest for dinner, general joshua chamberlain, who had set up his headquarters tent in his yard. at this dinner, chamberlain brought with him coffee, real coffee that pierce hadn't had in well over a year. and over the course of their dinner conversation, pierce undoubtedly learned that chamberlain was in charge of the actual surrender ceremony for the confederate infantry on the morning of april 12th. chamberlain has his men lining this road from the lee grant meeting site all the way up to the mclean house on the morning of april 12th at about 5:00. his men are out here for several hours before the confederates approach, and they start leaning on their rifles, talking amongst themselves. but as the confederate troops approach,