Prompt Cast
The Aftermath of Lee's Surrender: Events that Marked the End of the US Civil War
TLDR The surrender of General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia in 1865 was not the end of the entire Confederacy or the war itself. Several events, including battles, assassinations, and surrenders, occurred after Lee's surrender, with the last Confederate general surrendering almost seven months later.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
The US Civil War didn't really end with Lee's surrender, but rather that event marked the beginning of the end.
01:45
The surrender of General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia in 1865 marked the end of that specific Confederate force, but not the end of the entire Confederacy or the war itself.
03:18
After the surrender of Robert E. Lee, several events occurred including the Battle of Fort Blakely, the capture of Confederate Brigadier General St. John Richardson Little, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and the Battle of Columbus, Georgia, before Colonel John S. Mosby's unit disbanded without surrendering.
04:46
Colonel John S. Mosby never officially surrendered and had a bounty placed on his head, but finally surrendered in June, while General Joseph E. Johnson, seeing the writing on the wall, began talks with Union General William Tecumseh Sherman and surrendered on April 26 with the same terms as Lee.
06:19
On May 9th, President Andrew Johnson proclaimed that armed resistance to the government was effectively over, but the last battle of the Civil War, the Battle of Palmetto Ranch, took place on May 12th when Union Colonel Theodore H. Barrett went against orders and tried to take a fort outside of Brownsville, Texas.
07:51
The last battle of the US Civil War was won by the Confederacy, even though technically the Confederacy didn't exist at the time, and the last Confederate general to surrender was Cherokee Brigadier General Stand Wade.
09:31
The last Confederate surrendered to the Royal Navy in Liverpool, England, almost seven months after General Lee's surrender, and the war officially ended when President Andrew Johnson signed a proclamation in August 1866.
