We had just a short time at Appomattox Court House, but it was well worth the stop. A great park ranger shared the details of what took place in the McLean house on April 9, 1865.

In the parlor of the home were two desks. One desk made of granite sat prominently on the left of the parlor, and the other was a small wooden desk off to the right. I knew that this was where Confederate General in Chief, Robert E. Lee, and Commanding General of the US Army, Ulysses S. Grant, signed the surrender documents, ending the Civil War, but little else. I had assumed Grant would have sat at the larger desk, but the Ranger shared that General Grant cared little for formalities and arrived after Lee, who had already claimed the larger desk. I also learned that the smaller desk was later owned by General Custer, who transported it by horseback as a gift for his wife.

Our country is amazing, and I appreciated the message on a sign that read, this is where the country was reunited. I hope the same for our future.