Have you heard of Wilmer McLean? He was a Virginian who lived in Manassas. The Confederacy used his house as a headquarters during Bull Run, the first real battle of the war, which took place on his farm. At one point, a cannonball went through his kitchen window. 1/ 
After the war began in earnest, McLean moved his family further south, in an attempt to escape the fighting. He settled them in Appomattox. 2/
When Lee agreed to surrender to Grant, his aides sought out a place in Appomattox Courthouse to hold the surrender meeting. Totally coincidentally, they knocked on McLean’s door, and he agreed to host the meeting. 3/
Various (probably apocryphal) quotes are attributed to McLean, the best of which is “the civil war started in my kitchen, and ended in my living room.”
But it’s absolutely true that McLean’s two homes were key side players in the first and last engagements of the war. 4/4
But it’s absolutely true that McLean’s two homes were key side players in the first and last engagements of the war. 4/4
And, of course, everything Grant is describing here about the surrender took place in the McLean house.
https://twitter.com/MattGlassman312/status/1380512568742121472
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