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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]] 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.<ref name=Kantor77> Kantor, pp 75{{endash}}88</ref>
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 [[Smithsonian Institution]]'s [[National Museum of American History]] and the [[Chicago History Museum]]. 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 ==
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