
About this episode
April 8, 2026
General Ulysses S. Grant and Confederate General Robert E. Lee agreed to meet at the home of Wilmer McLean in Appomattox on the afternoon of April 9 to work out the terms of the surrender of Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, Upon signing the papers, the grandly dressed Lee told the somewhat disheveled Grant that his men were starving, Grant did not hesitate to agree to provide the soldiers with provisions, The Civil War was not won, as the South had imagined, by wealthy aristocrats, but by ordinary men of the Union Army who, like Grant, knew that they had a job to do.
Watch today's recording here: https://www.youtube.com/live/g9TUa1Rwd6U?si=T8_KKcHQZElhpnZ-
Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe
You can also find me:
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hcrichardson.bsky.social
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathercoxrichardson/?hl=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@heathercoxrichardson
Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe
Get every episode summarized
Each time Letters from an American publishes, we email you a written briefing from the transcript — the topics, who appeared, and any specific claims, with the ad reads skipped.
Email me new episodesFree for 3 shows. No card needed.
Hosts & guests
No transcript yet
This episode has not been transcribed. Request it and it moves to the front of the queue.
More episodes
More from Letters from an American

The Writing is Already on the Wall
Letters from an American

The Twenty-fifth Anniversary of 9/11
Letters from an American

A Chokepoint for World Trade
Letters from an American

Self-inflicted Problems
Letters from an American