One hundred and fifty years ago
this week (April 1-5, 1865), the Confederate capital of Richmond fell to Union
forces. This editorial in the Richmond
Times-Dispatch earlier this week recalled those days. Click here to read it.
Abraham Lincoln and his young son
Todd came to town on April 5. By then most of the commercial areas of the city
had been reduced to ruins by a fire set by Confederates who were heading south.
Their plan was to retreat to Danville, Virginia. But the soldiers barely made
it to Appomattox Court House, where Lee formally surrendered to Grant on April
9, 1865.
Just a few days later, Confederate
General Joe Johnston surrendered to General William Tecumseh Sherman at Durham
Station, North Carolina, effectively ending the Civil War.
Reconstruction followed. But less
is written about reconciliation during those turbulent days.
This modest structure, located just
behind the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, and open to visitors to
this day, evinces that spirit of reconciliation.
This is the Confederate Memorial
Chapel. It was completed in 1887, funded by private donations. The largest
single individual donation for its construction came from former United States
President and General of the Union Army, Ulysses S. Grant.
That’s what reconciliation looks
like.
