Published in the Interest of the Staunton Community for Over 143 Years

Easter of 1865 was a definitive period in American history

Religious Holiday of that year brought Lee’s Surrender, Lincoln’s Death

By Tom Emery

Holy Week is a reflective time for people of many faiths, and Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday are marked by tens of millions around the world. However, Holy Week in 1865 was a defining period in American history.

On Palm Sunday, April 9, Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, signaling the death knell for the Confederate cause that wilted away in the coming weeks. Five days later on Good Friday, President Lincoln was mortally wounded in his box at Ford’s Theater by assassin John Wilkes Booth, and died the...

 

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