Surrender at Appomattox Court House
- Oliver Groom
- Aug 24
- 6 min read
Updated: 11 hours ago
Abstract: Surrender at Appomattox Court House. Diary entries from Esek Hoff and Thomas Geer.
Original written by siblings George & Deb McGraw, December 2023. Revised and edited by Erika Newcombe, Deb Hall, and Oliver Groom, August 2026.
Gen. Ulysses S. Grant was laying a trap for the Confederate forces. On April 8, 1865, Maj. Gen. George Armstrong Custer captured the rail station at Appomattox, VA, thereby denying Gen. Robert E. Lee not only badly-needed food and supplies but also a way to retreat. The Union Army of the James was blocking Lee’s line of retreat to Lynchburg. Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan’s cavalry had Lee’s army blocked to the south, east, and southwest. Lee had nowhere to go.
On the morning of April 9, the 111th was marching with the Second Corps in pursuit of Lee’s rearguard near New Hope Church. As the men of the Second Corps were preparing to attack the rebel breastworks, a Confederate officer carrying the traditional white flag of surrender arrived on horseback, announcing a ceasefire.
In a letter home, 2nd Lt. Esek W. Hoff, Co. K, described how the men responded that April day to the news of Lee’s surrender: “But, I must speak of the events of yesterday before I write more. And that is the great and glorious news of the surrender of General Lee’s whole army. To the American Army … I cannot say half what I wish I could on this happy occasion for it is a time long to be remembered. Such cheering and a throwing of caps into the air never was witnessed before. The flag of truce went out the day before and also again yesterday and I of course we all knew that something was astir. We halted about noon and awaited with anxious thoughts. The termination of the interview. Soon it got around that everything was progressing favorable. And between four and five o’clock in the afternoon news came down the line that all was right … Such a shouting was never heard. Then when General Mead [sic] came down with cap in hand saluting as he passed. Then such a shout as went up was never heard before surpassing all other cheers. Men and officers clasped one another and fairly danced with delight. Then the bands struck up and all went off gay … Well, let the eagle scream. It is great and glorious for our company. Peace will soon come.”
Earlier in the war, Esek Hoff was wounded in action at the Battle of North Anna in Virginia on May 25, 1864, as he described in a letter he wrote to his wife four days later on May 29: “I was hit with a ball from sharp shooters in the left arm between the elbow and the wrist.” Esek returned for duty by the end of August 1864. Surviving the war, he passed away in 1913 (aged 79/80) and is buried at Chestnut Hill Cemetery in Union Springs.
In a more somber report, Sgt. Thomas Geer wrote home from near Burkeville, VA: “Old Lee has run his length. He has played out. The Ninth (last Sunday) we got him where he could not get out so he surrendered. I wish you could have heard our brave boys cheer. I could not cheer. I thought of the many boys we have lost. I have got through cheering. Our loss this far has not been very heavy during this campaign. We have had about one hundred killed and wounded in the regiment. One man killed in our company and eight wounded. We have forty-four present in our Company now … Our boys are all as stiff and sore as foundered horses this morning. They all look rough. We have had some hard marching. I think the fighting is about over. I begin to think we should get home some time if we live. I think the fighting is about over. I began to think we should get home sometime if we live. We expect to draw clothing here. I have none, only what I have on. I have about forty letters for the boys who were wounded. Jim Brunfield [Cpl. James W. Brumfield from Palmyra] was the only man killed from our company and I have a dozen letters for him. I shall send them to his sister. I am going to send to you a few of the blossoms from the tree Old Lee surrendered under. I must close.”
Jim Brumfield (also borne as James W. Brunfield) was 26 years old when he enlisted in the war on September 12, 1864, at Avon, to serve for one year. He was mustered in as a private in Co. A on September 13, 1864, and, over six weeks later on October 28, promoted to corporal. Brumfield was killed in action on April 2, 1865, during the final Union assault on Petersburg.
Later in April 1865, 2nd Lt. Hoff wrote: “thanks the Lord it will soon be over. For this accursed rebellion is about over. Even the Rebels themselves say. (And I have seen a great many within a few days) that the (unknown) thing is about played out … Peace will soon dawn upon on own America and war will soon cease.”
A skeptical Sgt. Thomas Geer reported on April 21: “There is nothing going on here and it seems rather dull after having such exciting times … It was reported here last night that Johnson [sic] had surrendered to Sherman but I have my doubts about it. We are getting good news to fast.”
Thomas had been promoted to sergeant on October 28, 1864. He mustered out with his company on June 4, 1865, near Alexandria, VA. Returning to Marion after the war, Thomas married and had two children. The effects of the conditions of the war had marked Thomas with heart problems due to severe malaria had down to his body. In 1887, he was approved for a pension. He remained active with military and veteran affairs throughout his life in Marion as he was a commander of the John B. Burrud G.A.R. Post in his hometown.
Geer was right to doubt that Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston had already surrendered, as he held out until April 26 when he met with Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman at Bennett Place near Durham, NC, to finalize peace terms. Geer wrote more about camp life in Virginia and the uncertainty the men felt about their immediate future: “All hands are at work fixing up our camp grounds. We have drill four hours a day … I have no gun now but will get one soon enough I presume … Yesterday we had General Monthly Inspection. They can not get but four more monthly inspections in to us [many men of the regiment had enlisted for three years in August 1862] … I wish you could hear some of the camp rumors. Sometimes we are going to be furloughed. Sometimes we are going to Texas or North Carolina and here we are yet … You must keep some Maple sugar for me … It is so dull here I can hardly think of anything more to write.”
Although Lee surrendered to Grant on April 9, 1865, at Appomattox Court House, the Civil War did not officially end for another sixteen months. The final Confederate surrender took place on November 6, 1865. The end of the Civil War was formally declared on August 20, 1866, with the following document signed by President Andrew Johnson: “Proclamation – Declaring that Peace, Order, Tranquility, and Civil Authority Now Exists in and Throughout the Whole of the United States.”
The Wayne County Historical Society encourages anyone with family members who served and lived in Wayne or Cayuga Counties during the 1860s to contact the Wayne County Historical Society at info@waynehistory.org or (315) 946-4943. If you are not sure about your Civil War ancestry, you can follow up with the link below:
Photos:
Maj. Gen. George Armstrong Custer
Post-war image of Esek Hoff (Courtesy of Ken Harris)
Thomas Geer (Photo from “Each Bee Was A Bullet”)
Outside Appomattox Court House
THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC RECEIVING THE NEWS OF THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER.' Harper's Weekly, February 4, 1865
Sources:
Katie Cayer and Laura Jowdy, “What Was the Last Battle of the Civil War? The Surrender of General Robert E. Lee,” Congressional Medal of Honor Society, April 9, 2025, https://www.cmohs.org/news-events/blog/on-this-day-160-years-ago-lee-surrendered-but-medal-of-honor-valor-continues/
New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs, One Hundred and Eleventh Infantry, in Annual Report of the Adjutant-General of the State of New York for the Year 1900: Registers of the One Hundred and Eleventh Infantry, accessed July 1, 2026, “111th Infantry Civil War Roster”
Wayne Historians Organization. Wayne County Civil War Soldiers. Accessed July 1, 2026. “Wayne County Civil War Soldiers”
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