On March 25, General Lee attacked General Grant's forces near Petersburg, but was defeated -- attacking and losing again on April 1. On April 2, Lee evacuated Richmond, the Confederate capital, and headed west to join with other forces.

As the spring of 1865 blossomed, it was certain that the Civil War would end soon and that the Confederacy would fall. With armies spread over half the continent, the war could hardly cease all at once everywhere. The question was where the end would come.  Lee and the remnant of his once mighty army bivouacked for the last time at the village clustered around the Appomattox County courthouse.

"It is with pain that I announce to Your Excellency the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia."
General Robert E, Lee to President Jefferson Davis, CSA