<P> The Battle of Appomattox Court House ( Virginia , U.S. ) , fought on the morning of April 9 , 1865 , was one of the last battles of the American Civil War ( 1861 -- 1865 ) . It was the final engagement of Confederate States Army General - in - Chief , Robert E. Lee , and his Army of Northern Virginia before it surrendered to the Union Army of the Potomac under the Commanding General of the United States , Ulysses S. Grant . Lee , having abandoned the Confederate capital of Richmond , Virginia , after the nine and one - half month Siege of Petersburg and Richmond , retreated west , hoping to join his army with the remaining Confederate forces in North Carolina , the Army of Tennessee under Gen. Joseph E. Johnston . Union infantry and cavalry forces under Gen. Philip Sheridan pursued and cut off the Confederates ' retreat at the central Virginia village of Appomattox Court House . Lee launched a last - ditch attack to break through the Union forces to his front , assuming the Union force consisted entirely of lightly armed cavalry . When he realized that the cavalry was now backed up by two corps of Federal infantry , he had no choice but to surrender with his further avenue of retreat and escape now cut off . </P>
<P> The Battle of Appomattox Court House ( Virginia , U.S. ) , fought on the morning of April 9 , 1865 , was one of the last battles of the American Civil War ( 1861 -- 1865 ) . It was the final engagement of Confederate States Army General - in - Chief , Robert E. Lee , and his Army of Northern Virginia before it surrendered to the Union Army of the Potomac under the Commanding General of the United States , Ulysses S. Grant . Lee , having abandoned the Confederate capital of Richmond , Virginia , after the nine and one - half month Siege of Petersburg and Richmond , retreated west , hoping to join his army with the remaining Confederate forces in North Carolina , the Army of Tennessee under Gen. Joseph E. Johnston . Union infantry and cavalry forces under Gen. Philip Sheridan pursued and cut off the Confederates ' retreat at the central Virginia village of Appomattox Court House . Lee launched a last - ditch attack to break through the Union forces to his front , assuming the Union force consisted entirely of lightly armed cavalry . When he realized that the cavalry was now backed up by two corps of Federal infantry , he had no choice but to surrender with his further avenue of retreat and escape now cut off . </P>
who won the battle of appomattox in the civil war
who won the battle of appomattox in the civil war
the United States
the United States