Appomattox, Virginia Topographic Map Shows Site of Civil War Surrender

Appomattox on the Map: Map of the Site of the Civil War Surrender Available from Ball State University Libraries

On April 9, 1865 General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant at the home of Wilmer and Virginia McLean near Appomattox, Virginia.  The house is now included in the Appomattox Court House National Historic Park. 

The McLean House is identified on this U.S. Geological Survey topographic map (above, click to enlarge) from the Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC).  The GRMC houses thousands of these quadrant maps from around the United States.  These maps are an excellent resource for cartographic research and include relief lines, intermittent and permanent bodies of water, roads, government boundaries, and prominent buildings and other cultural features. Historic topographic maps and thematic maps about the Civil War are also available in the GRMC.

The second satellite image from Google Earth shows the McLean House and the surrounding buildings of the park.  The Web page, What Was There, features a photograph of the McLean House taken at the surrender that can be “faded” to see the house today.

Maps from the GRMC may be circulated for two weeks or longer.  For more information, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097.