Wilmer McLean had been in the Virginia state militia and served in the Mexican War). At age 47, he was too old to serve in the Civil War. He owned 1,400 acres near Bull Run Creek in Virginia. In 1861, the war came to his farm. Confederate Gen. Pierre Beauregard decided to use his house as his headquarters. On July 21, 1861, the First Battle of Bull Run (or as the Southerner McClean would have called it, the First Battle of Manassas) took place. Beauregard and his staff were having supper in McLean’s kitchen when a cannonball hit the house and landed in the fireplace. Later, his house was used as a hospital and morgue. A year later, the sequel to the Battle of Bull Run roiled his life again. He vowed never again. He moved to the sleepy little village of Appomattox Court House. His house was the most substantial in the village. So, when Grant was to meet with Lee, it was chosen for the meeting. Lee signed the surrender terms in his parlor on April 9, 1861. And then the Union officers, including George Custer, proceeded to take all McLean’s furniture as souvenirs. The Union generals thrust money into Wilmer’s hands. The table Grant used was “purchased” for $20 (the equivalent of $411 today). It is now in the Smithsonian Institute. The house was recreated and is now part of the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park. In his old age, McLean would tell people how the war began and ended in his house. “The war began in my front yard and ended in my front parlor.”
– Whitcomb 240-241
– https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilmer_McLean
– https://prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2010/11/10/the-peculiar-story-of-wilmer-mclean/
– https://www.wvtf.org/civil-war-series/2019-09-18/the-strange-case-of-wilmer-mclean
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