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{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| nocat = yes
| image = McLean house 1865 April.jpg▼
| image
| location = [[Appomattox County, Virginia]]▼
| location
| locmapin = Virginia#USA
| added
| visitation_num = 102,397<ref name=Visitation>{{cite web |url= https://irma.nps.gov/STATS/SSRSReports/National%20Reports/Visitation%20By%20State%20and%20By%20Park%20(2017%20-%20Last%20Calendar%20Year |title= Visitation By State and by Park for Year: 2019 |publisher=National Park Service |access-date= June 13, 2020}}</ref>
}}
[[File:Mcleanhouse 2008 08 21 derivative.jpg|thumb|right|
[[File:Mcleanhouse parlor 2008 08 21.jpg|thumb|Replicas of the tables used by Lee and Grant in the McLean house for the surrender documents.]]
The '''McLean House'''
The
==History==
[[File:Lee Surrenders to Grant at Appomattox.jpg|thumb|Lee Surrenders to Grant at Appomattox]]
The McLean House was originally constructed by Charles Raine in 1848.<ref name="nrhpinv2">{{Cite book|title=National Register of Historic Places Registration: Appomattox Court House / Appomattox Court House National Historical Park (version from Virginia Department of Historic Resources, including maps) |url=http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Counties/Appomattox/006-0033_Appomattox_Courthouse_National_Historical_Park_1966_Final_Nomination.pdf |format=pdf |date=May 8, 1989 |author1=Jon B. Montgomery |author2=Reed Engle |author3=Clifford Tobias |
Because the First Battle of Bull Run, fought on July 21, 1861, took place on Wilmer McLean's farm about {{convert|120|mi|km}} to the north in Virginia, it can be said that the Civil War started in McLean's backyard in 1861 and ended in his parlor in 1865 (although neither event marked the true beginning or ending of hostilities). McLean was a retired [[Major (rank)|major]] in the Virginia [[militia]]. He was too old to enlist at the outbreak of the Civil War and decided to move to get away from the Civil War. After the war, he would say of himself that he moved because he loved peace, but he made a small fortune running sugar through the Union blockade. He was also a slave owner, and there are slave quarters next to McLean's house. Nonetheless, in the morning of [[Palm Sunday]] April 9, 1865, the war came back to McLean when General [[Robert E. Lee]] surrendered to [[Lieutenant General]] [[Ulysses S. Grant]] at his home.
The terms of surrender were: "The officers to give their individual paroles not to take up arms against the government of the United States until properly exchanged, and each company or regimental commander to sign a like parole for the men of their commands,"... neither "side arms of the officers nor their private horses or baggage" to be surrendered; and, as many privates in the Confederate Army owned horses and mules, all horses and mules claimed by men in the Confederate Army to be left in their possession. The table and chairs used by Lee and Grant when negotiating the surrender are now part of the collections of the [[Smithsonian Institution]]'s [[National Museum of American History]], and the [[Chicago History Museum]].{{sfn|Kurin|2013|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Ac4nDwAAQBAJ&lpg=PA234&pg=PA234 234]}} After the surrender, many Union soldiers purchased some of McLean's furniture; however, some was stolen.<ref name="npsMeleanhouse3"/> McLean sold pictures of his house after the Civil War; however, he failed financially.<ref name="npsMeleanhouse3"/>
== Preservation ==
Although he had made a considerable fortune smuggling sugar, McLean's money was in [[Confederate States dollar|Confederate currency]], which became worthless with the collapse of the Confederacy, and he was nearly ruined by the end of the war. In the fall of 1867 the McLeans left Appomattox Court House for Mrs. McLean's estate in [[Prince William County, Virginia|Prince William County]], Virginia. The banking house of Harrison, Goddin, and Apperson of [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]], Virginia, obtained a judgment against Wilmer McLean when he defaulted on loans against the property. The house, by then known as the "Surrender House", was sold at [[public auction]] on November 29, 1869, and purchased by John L. Pascoe. Records show he then rented it to the Ragland family of Richmond, Virginia.<ref name="npsMeleanhouse1">{{cite web|url= http://www.nps.gov/apco/mclean-house.htm |title= The McLean House – The Post War Years|
The renter Nathaniel H. Ragland then purchased the property for $1,250 (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US|value=1250|start_year=1872}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US}}) in 1872. After Nathaniel died in 1888, his widow Martha sold the property in 1891 for $10,000 to a Captain [[Myron Dunlap]] of [[Niagara Falls, New York|Niagara Falls]], New York. Dunlap and some other investors who participated devised a few plans intending to capitalize on the historical significance of the property. One scheme they came up with was to move the disassembled house to Washington, D.C., to become a permanent display as a Civil War museum.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.civilwar-books.com/McLeanHouseEnlarged-Writeup.htm|title= The McLean House write-up|
==Appomattox Court House National Historical
{{main|Appomattox Court House National Historical Park}}
Appomattox Court House National Historical
The project came to an abrupt stop on December 7, 1941, with the bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japanese forces. The United States entered into World War II. Bids for the reconstruction of the McLean House were reopened on November 25, 1947, and work continued. Eighty-four years after the historic surrender, reuniting the country, the McLean House was opened by the National Park Service for the first time to the public on April 9, 1949. In front of a crowd of approximately twenty thousand people a speech was given by [[Pulitzer Prize]]
[[File:McLean House marker.jpg|thumb|
[[Elizabeth Bacon Custer]]'s will of November 18, 1926, presented to the Probate court of [[New York City]] on May 11, 1933, stated: "
A McLean house marker is at the front gate to the house. The inscription reads:
{{
<p>
:At midday on April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee rode into this yard, dismounted, and disappeared into the McLean House. Grant, surrounded by generals and staff officers, soon followed. Dozens of officers, horses, and onlookers waited outside. After 90 minutes, Lee and Grant emerged. To the silent salutes of Union officers, Lee rode back through the village – to his defeated army.
:The home that hosted the surrender meeting was one of the best in Appomattox. Built in 1848, it had since 1862 been owned by businessman Wilmer McLean. The house became a sensation after the surrender. Union officers took some mementos; and in 1893 it was dismantled for display in Washington, D.C. But that display never happened, and the National Park Service reconstructed the building on its original site in the 1940s.<ref name=Marker>{{cite web |url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/travlinman43/43434120244/sizes/l/ |title= Mclean house sign |publisher=Flickr - Steve |
{{wide image|McLean House Parlor.jpg|800px|Panoramic image of the reconstructed parlor of the McLean House. [[Ulysses S. Grant]] sat at a simple wooden table on the right, while [[Robert E. Lee]] sat at a more ornate marble-topped table.}}
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==References==
* {{cite book|last=Fiske
*
* {{Cite book|last=Kurin |first=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ac4nDwAAQBAJ |title=The Smithsonian's History of America in 101 Objects |publisher=Penguin |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-14-312815-1 |language=en}}
*
==Further reading==
*
* {{cite book|last=Davis
*
* {{cite book|author=National Park Service
{{Appomattox Court House National Historical Park}}
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[[Category:Houses completed in 1848]]
[[Category:Slave cabins and quarters in the United States]]
[[Category:Brick buildings and structures in Virginia]]
[[Category:1848 establishments in Virginia]]
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