The Final Struggles: September 1864 to April 1865Lee’s Surrender |
What authority did Grant possess at that moment? |
Everything Grant did was conditional upon Lincoln’s approval, but the two men had been in such concert for the past year that there was little chance of a mishap. In his last meeting with Grant, Lincoln had expressed his desire that the defeated Confederates be let up easy, as he put it.

Union soldiers stand in wait at Appomattox Court House, where General Robert E. Lee finally surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant.