Civil War Stamps Dedicated 150 Years to Minute of General Lee's Surrender

Two descendants of Civil War officers joined postal officials on the steps of the Appomattox, VA, courthouse for the April 9 dedication of the last two stamps in the Civil War Sesquicentennial series.

One stamp depicts the decisive Battle of Five Forks, often called “the Waterloo of the Confederacy.” The second stamp shows Confederate Army General Robert E. Lee’s surrender to Union Army General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox, ending the war.

The dedication took place almost 150 years to the minute of Lee’s surrender.

“In these images, we see the story of America — and remarkably, all this is done in the size of a postage stamp,” said Pat Mendonca, U.S. Postal Service Senior Director for the Postmaster General/CEO. “From this day forward, the images of these historic events will be carried on letters and packages to millions of households and businesses throughout America. And in issuing these new stamps, the Postal Service has been proud to participate in a valuable effort to commemorate and reflect anew on a critical era of our nation’s history.”

Joining Mendonca in dedicating the stamps will be Dennis Bigelow, descendant of Lt. Col. Chas. Marshall, Lee’s aide at the Appomattox surrender; Parker, descendant to Grant’s Military Secretary Lt. Col. Ely S. Parker; Acting Superintendent Appomattox Court House National Historical Park Robin Snyder; Appomattox Court House National Historical Park Historian Patrick Schroeder; and Chief Historian/Chief of Interpretation Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park John Hennessy.