In July 1861, the First Battle of Bull Run erupted near Manassas, Virginia. Confederate General P. G.
T. Beauregard commandeered the home of Wilmer McLean, a 47-year-old wholesale grocer, to use as his headquarters. During the battle, a Union cannonball smashed through the kitchen chimney, ruining the officers' dinner.
Deciding that living on an active battlefield was far too dangerous for his family, McLean packed up his life and moved 120 miles south to the quiet village of Appomattox Court House, Virginia, believing he would finally be safe from future military action. For nearly four years, McLean lived in peace while war raged across the country. However, history was not done with him.
By April 1865, General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia was surrounded and exhausted. Seeking a neutral and dignified venue to sign surrender documents, Lee sent his aide into Appomattox Court House to find a suitable building.
The aide happened to ask a local resident on the street for help, who turned out to be Wilmer McLean. McLean initially offered a dilapidated structure without furniture, but after the aide rejected it, McLean reluctantly offered his own well-furnished brick home. On April 9, 1865, Generals Lee and Ulysses S.
Grant met in McLean's parlor to sign the terms of surrender, effectively ending the major hostilities of the Civil War. Immediately after the surrender, opportunistic Union officers stripped McLean's house, buying or simply stealing his furniture, wall hangings, and inkstands as souvenirs, leaving him with a torn-apart home.