1- The last two Confederation cities to be taken by the Unionists were Petersburg and Richmond, on April 1865.
Robert Lee didn't want to surrender but after the loss of this two cities the Confederate Army, thinned by desertion and casualties, wasn't able to continue the war.
2- The day after Petersburg fall President Lincoln (who had been visiting Grant) was able to tour the city. He stated to Admiral David Porter: "Thank God I have lived to see this. It seems to me that I have been dreaming a horrid dream for four years, and now the nightmare is gone, I want to see Richmond".
3- Finally on the morning of April 9th Lee and his hungry men found themselves surrounded by five times the number of Union soldiers. Lee had no choice. At a ceremony at Appomattox Court House he surrendered the army of Northern Virginia, thus effectively bringing to an end the most horrible war in American history.
4- After visiting Petersburg, Lincoln was taken to Richmond by Admiral Porter. Once he reached the city it was thronged by Blacks. One old lady is said to have shouted: "I know I am alive for I have seen Father Abraham and felt him."
5- President Abraham Lincoln was a man whose principles were inspiring for the Union's cause. He had the good fortune of seeing the end of the Civil War, as he told Admiral Porter, but he was unjustly murdered a few days later by a follower of the Southern cause. He must be remembered as a great patriot and one of the best presidents in American history.
