Dimitri has a very intriguing post that considers the actual date that should be recognized as the “end of the Civil War.” He then asks, “What’s your choice?” But, of course, one of the problems I have with his site is that you can’t actually voice an opinion as he has comments turned off. This is fine, it’s his blog, though intellectually restrictive as he writes, essentially, in a vacuum. No dissension allowed. Anyway, as you can’t comment on his site, I will post his options here as they are excellent:
(1) Appomattox (4/9/65) – Rationale: best hope of the Confederacy surrenders.
(2) Durham Station (4/26/65) – Rationale: second best hope of the Confederacy surrenders.
(3) Mobile (5/4/65) – Rationale: third best hope of the Confederacy surrenders.
(4) New Orleans (5/26/65) – Rationale: last army east of the Mississippi surrenders.
(5) Irwinsville, GA (5/10/65) – Rationale: president of CSA captured.
(6) Washington (5/10/65) – Rationale: Johnson declares armed resistance at an end.
(7) Galveston (6/2/65) – Rationale: last CSA army west of the Missisippi surrenders.
(8) Doaksville, OK (6/23/65) – Rationale: Confederate Indian tribes surrender.
(9) Havana (11/65) – Rationale: Toombs, John Reagan, Breckinridge, and Kirby Smith fail to form a Confederate government in exile.
(10) Liverpool (11/6/65) – Rationale: CSS Shenandoah surrenders.
“What’s your choice” and Why? I personally say option number 1. It for all practicable purposes ended the war. Lee set the example and Grant the standard for how to end the war — for the most part — and this held true from then on. But also, once Lee was done there was no way the others would continue, in my opinion, and the rest was simply a formality.
It depends on what the definition of “is” is….
The effective end to the war was Lee’s surrender (#1). With Lee and the ANV out of the way, there was no hope for the rest of the Confederacy.
I would say the “official” end to the war was #7, Galveston on June 2, 1865, when the last of the official Confederate armies surrendered. BTW, it looks like Johnson had jumped the gun by about a month, eh?
The rest of the events could be taken as “rounding up the renegades.”
I love the layout of your blog. Keep up the good work!