More on Appomattox Court House

Little known facts:

1… Title 14, Section 1211, of the Code of Federal Regulations, implemented on July 16, 1969, makes it illegal for U. S. citizens to have any contact with extraterrestrials or their vehicles.

2… There are more cars in Southern California than there are cows in India.

3…Percentage of Americans who say that God has spoken to them: 36%.

 The following is a quote from documents at the historical site:
Lee asked for the terms, and Grant hurriedly wrote them out. All officers and men were to be pardoned, and they would be sent home with their private property–most important, the horses, which could be used for a late spring planting. Officers would keep their side arms, and Lee’s starving men would be given Union rations.
Shushing a band that had begun to play in celebration, General Grant told his officers, “The war is over. The Rebels are our countrymen again.” Although scattered resistance continued for several weeks, for all practical purposes the Civil War had come to an end.

Something really hit me hard with that statement ‘The CSA soldiers were to be pardoned.  All my life I have heard this and assumed it was a verbal blanket pardon. I never realized that the pardons were actually ‘printed’. The paper had the individual soldier’s names. Printing presses were set up in the Tavern there at Appomattox Court House.  Over 30,000 pardons were printed.

(This room is set up as it was in 1865 The pardons were hug up for the ink to dry!)
Above is a depiction of the printing area and lines with the ink drying on the pardons before they could be distributed. 30,000 papers printed quickly in 1865, isn’t that amazing.  Imagine the typesetters???

At many historical sites we have found folks wandering around dressed in the manner of the era depicted. They speak as folk did then and actually ‘try’ to live as though it is a time past. Our guy was a Union soldier who had worked in a newspaper print shop before the war. The time he was depicting is a couple months after the surrender. He is assigned back here to enforce PEACE. He does not like President Johnson but had admired Lincoln who has recently been assassinated by Booth.
We were warned not to ask present day questions like, “Can I take your picture? He will look at you confused, and think you want to take something of his.” You might ask, “May I copy your likeness?”  It is play acting of course but interesting. The clothes, shoes and hats are made the same as they were in 1865.  I like it.

Nite Shipslog

 1969 GTO called the Goat!