Wilmer McLean was a wholesale grocer who lived in Manassas, Virginia, and purchased his home and farm in 1854. When the Civil War started in 1861, an early goal of both armies was to capture the opposing capitals, Washington D.C. and Richmond, VA. Therefore, many battles took place in the vicinity of these cities. The first major battle that broke out on July 21st, 1861, was the Battle of Bull Run, known to the south as the Battle of Manassas. Unfortunately for Wilmer McLean, the battle took place on his farm, and his house served as the headquarters to Confederate Brigadier General P.G.T. Beauregard. During the battle, a canonball fell through the kitchen fireplace. After the battle, Beauregard wrote, “A comical effect of this artillery fight was the destruction of the dinner of myself and staff by a Federal shell that fell into the fire-place of my headquarters at the McLean House.” The Battle of Bull Run was a victory for the Confederacy when the Union army retreated from the battlefield.

During the war, McLean served as a sugar supplier to the Confederate army. However, he feared that the war in his area of Virginia would impact his business, and he didn’t think it was safe for his family to stay in Manassas. (Considering that there was a Second Battle of Bull Run the following year, he was right). He decided to take his family about 120 miles southwest to a location he believed was safer: Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia.

However, on April 9th, 1865, the war knocked on McLean’s door once again. The last major battle of the war between General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate army and General Ulysses S. Grant’s Union army took place in Appomattox Court House. Lee looked for a place to sign the terms of surrender with Grant, and McLean’s house was chosen. McLean had to reluctantly agree. Lee surrendered to Grant in McLean’s parlor. McLean is supposed to have said, “The war began in my backyard, and ended in my front parlor.” The image of Lee and Grant meeting in McLean’s parlor is one of the most iconic images of the Civil War. It marked the end of four years of brutal fighting between the North and South. After Lee signed the terms of surrender, troops began walking off with McLean’s furniture: tables, chairs, etc. as souveniers. They handed McLean money on the spot with no discussion of the furniture’s value. The table on which Grant drafted the document is now at the Smithsonian. This unlucky man had the Civil War come right into his home on two separate occasions, ironically the beginning and end of the war. He sold his home in Appomattox Court House in 1868 and moved back to Manassas. He later moved to Alexandria, VA. A full size recreation of McLean’s home in Appomattox is now part of the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park. (https://www.nps.gov/apco/index.htm)

Check out my earlier blog post questioning what would have happened in post-war America if the Confederacy had won the Civil War: WHAT IF….. The Confederacy had won the Civil War?

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