Appomattox
Courthouse Pen
In
March, 2002, we crafted pens from this wood
Exclusively for
American
Forests' Historic Tree Nursery
Pens
from this tree are no longer available
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Appomattox
Courthouse Tree
Surrender Triangle Honeylocust
The
Appomattox Courthouse Honeylocust grew for 186 years at the
site of the official end to America's long and bloody Civil
War.
Confederate
General Robert E. Lee and Union General Ulysses S. Grant met
on April 9, 1865, in the parlor of Wilmer Mclean's home in
the hamlet of Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia. Lee knew that
surrender was his only option. His supplies had been spent
and his soldiers were demoralized. Grant stated the conditions
of surrender acceptable to the Union forces: Lee's troops
"should lay down their arms, not to take them up again during
the continuance of war." Three days later, formal ceremonies
were held on the green now called Appomattox Courthouse National
Historical Park, the southern edge of which was shaded by
this tree. Some 28,000 Confederates filed by to turn in their
arms and public property and receive paroles. The fighting
between North and South finally came to a close nearly two
months later when, on June 2, 1865, the last Confederate soldiers
surrendered in Texas.
A
1997 Vegetation Inventory and Management Plan conducted
by the Morris Arboretum, note
that the tree had a diameter of 51.5 inches and was 183
years old.
In
the spring of 2000, the tree surrendered to old age.
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