Courtesy Museum of the Confederacy
Museum of the Confederacy
Appomattox, Va.
The new, freshly pressed gray uniform frock coat that Gen. Robert E. Lee wore when he surrendered to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865, at Appomattox Court House, Va., has been on display at the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, Va. Soon, the coat, along with the sword Lee wore that historic day and the pen he used to sign the surrender, which effectively ended the Civil War, will return to Appomattox.
“It is moving to Appomattox, where it belongs,” said Sam Craghead, public relations specialist for the museum, whose new facility near the Appomattox Court House National Historic Site will have its grand opening March 31.
The museum is part of the Museum of the Confederacy’s efforts to expand its reach around the state.
“There will be a number of interactive exhibits and more than 200 artifacts,” said Craghead, including the uniforms of 20 other senior Confederate officers who surrendered at Appomattox.
“The parole of Lee and his officers is also one of the things we have in our collection. We have the largest collection of wartime Confederate flags in the world. Fifty-five were surrendered at Appomattox, and many of them will be on display.”
In addition to the physical artifacts, the Wall of Faces will feature the pictures of some 100 people from the war. “You touch the face and get the story of that person,” said Craghead.
— www.moc.org —
Missouri Civil War Museum
St. Louis
Stevens noted that as a border state, Missouri was divided. It remained in the Union but had strong Confederate ties. The 13th star in the Confederate battle flag represented Missouri.
Although a date has not been set, Stevens is confident the museum will open this year.
The museum will be located on several floors of the historic 1905 Post Exchange Building at the Jefferson Barracks Historic Site, the oldest active military post west of the Mississippi River and home to the Missouri National Guard. It is on the banks of the Mississippi, some 20 minutes south of downtown St. Louis.
The building, which was vacant from 1946 to 2003, has undergone extensive renovation. “It has been restored as close as possible to the way it originally looked,” said Stevens. “Our goal No. 1 was to save and restore the building, then fit the museum exhibits around the building.”
The museum has accumulated a large collection of artifacts, among them weapons, flags, Civil War stamps and currency, musical instruments, saddles, medical instruments and a Studebaker horse wagon.
“Probably the best thing is a pair of green velvet parlor chairs that were owned by Mary Todd Lincoln,” said Stevens. “And we have an original 35-star U.S. flag that came into use in 1863.”
— www.mcwm.org —
