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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