By Staff Reports on 20 April 2009
Appomattox Court House National Historical Park is pleased to present a special program to commemorate the end of the Civil War from the point of view of non-soldiers. Throughout the weekend, May 2 and 3, visitors will encounter civilians in the historic village and learn about the uncertainties facing everyday people in Piedmont Virginia in May of 1865.
Posted in News, People | Tagged Appomattox Courthouse, Civil War
By Linda Goin on 25 March 2009
On this day in 1930, Henry T. “Dick” Merrill landed his plane out of necessity in a field near Appomattox Courthouse. Merrill was a cracker-jack pilot, a “daring dilettante” of the airways, a veteran airmail delivery man and an eccentric.
Posted in Today in History | Tagged Appomattox Courthouse, Henry T. Merriell, Lake Elsinore California
By Linda Goin on 11 March 2009
On this day in 1934, the Albuquerque Journal in New Mexico (page 6) noted that a proposal for a monument at Appomattox Court House commemorating the surrender of Lee met with widespread protests from “the South.”
Posted in Today in History | Tagged Appomattox Courthouse, Confederate States of America, National Park Service, Robert E. Lee
By Linda Goin on 23 February 2009
Papers all over this country on this date in 1903 published a pre-death announcement for Brevet-Major General Robert Sanford Foster. Foster, born in Vernon, Indiana, on 27 January 1834, enlisted in the Civil War as soon as the war began in 1861 as Captain of a company in the Eleventh Indiana Volunteers in the three months’ service. He then transferred to the 13th Indiana with the rank of major, was advanced to Lieutenant Colonel of that regiment and later to Colonel. He was made Brigadier General of Volunteers in 13 June 1863, and was continuously in command of a division in the Tenth or the Twenty-fourth Army Corps.
Posted in Today in History | Tagged Appomattox Courthouse, Army of the James, Civil War, Crown Hill Cemetery
By Staff Reports on 30 January 2009
[ 4 April 2009; ] On Saturday, April 4, Appomattox Court House NHP will participate in the 11th annual Park Day sponsored by the Civil War Preservation Trust’s (CWPT) and the History Channel. This year’s project will be to repaint a 300-foot section of picket fence that surrounds the Plunkett-Meeks Store situated in the middle of the historic village.
Posted in Calendar, Events, News | Tagged American Civil War, Appomattox Courthouse, Civil War Preservation Trust
By Linda Goin on 28 January 2009
Virginia Democrats were busy in Washington on this day in 1930, as two of them proposed new monuments for the state – one specifically for Appomattox. But, after a little investigation into the one little blurb below, I discovered some problems.
Posted in Today in History | Tagged American Civil War, Appomattox Courthouse, Republican, United States Congress
By Staff Reports on 23 January 2009
Following the Civil War, German born artist George Leo Frankenstein traveled over 3000 miles painting landscapes of the wars most famous sites “before any change in their features had been made.” Though a German immigrant, Frankenstein felt keenly its importance to the future of his adopted country. While at Appomattox, Frankenstein elected to record the site of the formal surrender ceremony in his painting the “Head of the Appomattox River.” The location is one of the most evocative on the battlefield – the site of the “Stacking of Arms,” the laying down of weapons and the return of the country to peace.
Posted in Feature | Tagged American Civil War, Appomattox Courthouse, John McCain, National Park Service, Place Called Appomattox
By Linda Goin on 15 January 2009
Appomattox County was formed in 1845 from portions of Buckingham, Campbell, Charlotte and Prince Edward counties. The first courthouse was planned and named Clover Hill Village, and then renamed Appomattox Courthouse, and that was the name of the post office before the Civil War.
Posted in Today in History | Tagged Appomattox Courthouse, Nebraska Virginia, Surrender
By Linda Goin on 14 January 2009
On this day in history in 1928, some opinion was voiced on page four in the Danville, Virginia paper, The Bee, about the possibility of resurrecting Appomattox for tourism purposes. The opinion seemed to be slanted toward “less is more” as the writer admonished Lynchburg’s plan for the resurrection of Appomattox Courthouse proper.
Posted in Today in History | Tagged 20th century, American Civil War, Appomattox Courthouse, Civil War, Great Depression
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