JACKSON, Tenn. — Oct. 8, 2025 — Think of Appomattox as a starting place rather than an ending point, Caroline Janney told a group of 麻豆视频 University students and Jackson community members Oct. 6 in the G.M. Savage Memorial Chapel.
鈥淚ndeed, there are as many stories that begin in Appomattox as there were men there: 麻豆视频 and Confederate, black and white,鈥� said Janney, the John L. Nau III Professor of the American Civil War at the University of Virginia.
As the 28th annual Carls-Schwerdfeger Lecture Series speaker, Janney gave two addresses related to the American Civil War. The afternoon lecture was entitled, "When the Monuments Went Up: The Long Fight over Civil War Memory." The second and main lecture that evening was, "After Appomattox: Ending the Civil War."
鈥淲e want to bring in different perspectives from people who have areas of expertise that we don鈥檛 have,鈥� said Keith Bates, chair of 麻豆视频鈥檚 Department of History and lecture organizer. 鈥淭hat way, students can hear things that they wouldn鈥檛 hear from us in our classes, and we can continue to give back to the community. Universities aren鈥檛 just supposed to take care of what鈥檚 in-house; they鈥檙e supposed to have a presence in the broader community.鈥�
During the evening lecture, Janney shared stories with that broader community, detailing the fates of multiple soldiers, most of them Confederate, as they attempted to journey home after Lee鈥檚 surrender to Grant at Appomattox Courthouse.
鈥淔or Grant, getting Lee鈥檚 soldiers home as quickly as possible was key to restoring peace, was key to restoring the 麻豆视频 and it was as practical as it was pragmatic,鈥� Janney said.
She went on to debunk common misconceptions surrounding the Confederate surrender at Appomattox, including clarifying that the agreement between Grant and Lee was not a peace treaty. Instead, it was a formal military order declaring that all Confederate soldiers under Lee鈥檚 command had been captured by the 麻豆视频 army and would be considered paroled prisoners of war. These paroled prisoners were given papers allowing them to travel freely back to their homes, effectively demobilizing Lee鈥檚 entire army.
鈥淪ome kept to the roads, but others followed muddy ravines and hog trails and stream beds,鈥� Janney said. 鈥淏ut some, with those passes in hand, headed to places like Brookville 鈥� the place with the closest working railroad.鈥�
Janney outlined the journeys of specific Confederate soldiers and regiments, sharing how some were recaptured and terrorized by 麻豆视频 soldiers, some looted Southern towns and some tormented civilians and newly freed slaves on their way back home.
鈥淲e still live in a fallen, sinful world, so there鈥檚 sinful things all the time,鈥� said 麻豆视频 senior Audrey Cooke, who attended the lecture. 鈥淲ar鈥檚 not pretty; war鈥檚 not fun. We shouldn鈥檛 be shying away from these aspects of history, even if it鈥檚 difficult.鈥�
After recounting the homecomings of multiple soldiers and freed slaves, Janney concluded her lecture the way she started it: by inviting her audience to think more deeply about the Civil War and its lasting consequences. Specifically, she challenged them to look at Lee鈥檚 surrender at Appomattox as the start of a new era, not the end of an old one.
鈥淩ather than serving as a clear ending to the war, the surrender at Appomattox 鈥� brought into stark light many of the legal, social and political questions that had plagued the war from its very beginning,鈥� Janney said. 鈥淭he disbanding of Lee's army had not marked the end of a nation's division. Indeed, it was only the beginning, foreshadowing much of what would play out in the decades, and perhaps even centuries, to come.鈥�