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SEE PHOTO(s) - An ORIGINAL Civil War NEWSPAPER, the NY Herald dated April 11, 1865. This original newspaper contains headlines and long detailed coverage of the SURRENDER of LEE to GRANT at Appomattox Court House, VIRGINIA, thus marking the END OF THE CIVIL WAR. This includes the reaction of many in the Northern states to the end of the Civil War.

This issue also contains the front page printing of a public speech made by President ABRAHAM LINCOLN to the crowd gathered in front of the White House to celebrate the surrender of Lee to Grant. 

The Appomattox Campaign, March 29–April 9, 1865, consisted of a series of engagements south and west of the Confederate capital at Richmond that ended in the surrender by Robert E. Lee of the Army of Northern Virginia during the American Civil War (1861–1865). During his Overland Campaign the previous spring, Union general-in-chief Ulysses S. Grant had relentlessly pursued Lee before settling into a ten-month siege of the Confederate transportation hub at Petersburg, south of Richmond. Grant was finally able to dislodge Lee’s army at the Battle of Five Forks (1865), allowing him to take Petersburg and then Richmond. The Confederates fled to Southside Virginia in an attempt to unite with Joseph E. Johnston’s Army of Tennessee, but Grant maneuvered Lee into a trap near the village of Appomattox Court House. There, on April 9, the Confederate general received terms of surrender from Grant. In short order, the remaining Confederate armies also laid down their arms and the war ended.

With the fall of Petersburg and Richmond, and Lee’s surrender to Grant at Appomattox, Washington was consumed by celebration. On the evening of April 10, 1865, a crowd of some 3,000 people gathered outside the White House, hoping for some rousing words from their president. In response to their cries of “Speech!”

President Abraham Lincoln demurred, saying he would deliver an address the following evening, after he had adequate time to prepare. As consolation, he issued a special request for the Marine band. “I have always thought ‘Dixie’ one of the best tunes I have ever heard. Our adversaries over the way attempted to appropriate it, but I insisted yesterday that we fairly captured it.” As the crowd laughed and cheered, Lincoln added, “It is good to show the rebels that, with us, they will be free to hear it again.”

With Union victory on the horizon, the president’s mood was somber, even as the capital’s joyful hubbub swirled below him. According to what he told his wife and others close to him, disturbing dreams visited Lincoln in the early spring of 1865. In one, he encountered a large group of soldiers and citizens in mourning before a shrouded figure in the East Room of the White House. When he asked one of the soldiers who the corpse belonged to, the man replied “The President…he was killed by an assassin!”

In another of Lincoln’s dreams, he was on a ship moving rapidly through the water toward a vast and unknown shore. Having had similar dreams on the eves of Antietam, Gettysburg and Vicksburg, Lincoln apparently considered this one a good omen, believing it a sign that Confederate General Joe Johnston would soon surrender to William T. Sherman in North Carolina.

Good condition. There is a 4" x 3" paper loss on page 3. This listing includes the original newspaper, NOT just a clipping or a page of it. STEPHEN A. GOLDMAN HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS stands behind all of the items that we sell with a no questions asked, money back guarantee. Every item we sell is an original newspaper printed on the date indicated at the beginning of its description. U.S. buyers pay priority mail postage which includes waterproof plastic and a heavy cardboard flat to protect the purchased item from damage in the mail. Upon request by the buyer, we can ship by USPS Media Mail to reduce postage cost; however, please be aware that USPS Media Mail can be very slow in its time of transit to the buyer. International postage is quoted when we are informed as to where the package is to be sent. We do combine postage (to reduce postage costs) for multiple purchases sent in the same package. We list thousands of rare newspapers with dates from 1570 through 2004 on Ebay each week. This is truly SIX CENTURIES OF HISTORY that YOU CAN OWN!

 Stephen A. Goldman Historical Newspapers has been in the business of buying and selling historical newspapers for over 50 years. Dr. Goldman is a consultant to the Freedom Forum Newseum and a member of the American Antiquarian Society. You can buy with confidence from us, knowing that we stand behind all of our historical items with a 100% money back guarantee. Let our 50+ years of experience work for YOU ! We have hundreds of thousands of historical newspapers (and their very early precursors) for sale.