Two Days Before Appomattox, Gen. Robert E. Lee Shares His Thoughts With an Aide

About midnight on April 7, 1865, John Sergeant Wise, an 18-year-old second lieutenant in the Army of Northern Virginia, found Gen. Robert E. Lee in an open field dictating orders to his military secretary, Charles Marshall. Wise, the son of a Confederate general and former Virginia governor, delivered a message from President Jefferson Davis, who had fled the capital days earlier. Here's what Wise recalled of the meeting with Gen. Lee.

"Life on the Civil War Research Trail" is hosted by Ronald S. Coddington, Editor and Publisher of Military Images magazine. Learn more about our mission to showcase, interpret and preserve Civil War portrait photography at militaryimagesmagazine.com and shopmilitaryimages.com.

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Image: Find A Grave

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