Wilmer McLean

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Wilmer McLean about 1860
Beauregard's headquarters

Wilmer McLean (born May 3, 1814 , † June 5, 1882 in Alexandria , Virginia ) was an American grocery wholesaler from Virginia. It is said that the American Civil War "began in his front yard and ended in his living room."

The first major battle of the American Civil War began in parts on his property in Manassas in July 1861. Coincidentally, the poor surrendered under General Robert E. Lee on April 9, 1865 in his house near Lynchburgs .

Career

McLean owned a farm in Manassas , Virginia, called the Yorkshire Plantation. On July 21, 1861, there was fighting at this location, from which the First Battle of Bull Run developed, the first battle of the Civil War. Brigadier General PGT Beauregard of the Confederate Army was headquartered in McLean's house and it came under fire from Union Army artillery during the fighting . Beauregard later recalled that a slow cannonball fell through the kitchen fireplace, startling him and his staff as they ate. The comment that the civil war began in McLean's " front yard " relates to this occurrence .

After the outbreak of war, McLean withdrew to southern Virginia, and thus deeper into the southern states , in order to avoid the fighting and to continue to take care of his business interests, which were concentrated in the south . He and his family moved into a property at Appomattox Court House .

McLean's house in Appomattox Court House in April 1865

Four years later, on April 9, 1865, the Confederate troops under General Robert E. Lee and the Union troops under Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant met in the vicinity of that very town . When Lee decided to surrender after an unsuccessful attempt to break out of the vicinity of Grant's troops, his staff found an appropriate place for Lee and Grant to meet. With the courthouse at Appomattox Court House closed on Sunday, they eventually got to McLean's house. He was reluctant to let her in. The surrender of Lee's opposite Grant was finally in McLean salon signed. This act is generally considered to be the end of the civil war, even if there was fighting in other places between other units after this date. The comment that the Civil War ended in McLean's " living room " relates to this incident .

The Grade I listed McLean House today

After the signing of the surrender, McLean's salon was literally emptied by the officers present. The participants in the ceremony wanted to secure valuable mementos and took practically all pieces of furniture from the room with them. McLean, who admittedly disliked this, was compensated by the generals and senior staff officers with sometimes large sums of money for the individual pieces of furniture. The house itself is now part of the Appomattox Court House National Monument.

After the war, McLean had to sell his house at Appomattox Court House in 1867 due to financial difficulties. The family first moved back to Manassas and later to Alexandria . McLean worked for the Internal Revenue Service from 1873 to 1876 and the Bureau of Customs from 1876 to 1880, and died in Alexandria in 1882.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Russ Dodge: Wilmer McLean. Retrieved June 8, 2019 .
  2. ^ A b c Wilmer McLean - The Beginning and the End. eHISTORY, accessed June 7, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Joy Hakim: War, terrible war . 3. Edition. Oxford University Press, New York 2003, ISBN 0-19-515330-8 .
  4. ↑ a b Christopher Klein: How the Civil War Stalked Wilmer McLean. Retrieved June 7, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Kevin Boyd: Wilmer McLean and his farms. In: Aged Woods, Inc. November 2, 2017, accessed June 8, 2019 (American English).
  6. ↑ Frank P. Cauble: Biography Of Wilmer McLean Appomattox Court House National Historical Park Virginia . Self-published, 1969, p. 40-50 .
  7. ↑ Frank P. Cauble: Biography Of Wilmer McLean Appomattox Court House National Historical Park Virginia . Self-published, 1969, p. 77-85 .
  8. ↑ Mailing Address: Appomattox Court House National Historical Park PO Box 218 Appomattox, VA 24522 Phone: 352-8987 x226 Contact Us: Lula McLean's Rag Doll - Appomattox Court House National Historical Park (US National Park Service). Retrieved June 8, 2019 .
  9. ↑ Mailing Address: Appomattox Court House National Historical Park PO Box 218 Appomattox, VA 24522 Phone: 352-8987 x226 Contact Us: The McLean House - Appomattox Court House National Historical Park (US National Park Service). Retrieved June 8, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME McLean, Wilmer
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American grocery wholesaler
DATE OF BIRTH May 3, 1814
DATE OF DEATH June 5, 1882
Place of death Alexandria , Virginia