1865
Appomattox Campaign
The setting
Central Virginia, culminating at Appomattox Court House, United States
Rolling Virginia countryside, road and rail junctions, river crossings
Reveal the outcome
Recorded sideUnited States (Union)
Recorded resultvictory
Decisive Union victory; Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865
How the atlas explains it
The fall of Petersburg and Richmond forced Lee into a westward retreat; Union numerical superiority, aggressive cavalry pursuit under Sheridan, and the severing of supply routes (notably at Sailor's Creek and Appomattox Station) encircled the starving Confederate army and cut off its escape.
What followed
Ended Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and effectively concluded the American Civil War in the East. Grant's lenient surrender terms set a tone of reconciliation for the war's end.