Troops from Erie at Lee's Surrender

Surrounded by overwhelming numbers of Union Army troops, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his 30,000-troop Army of Northern Virginia in the village of Appomattox Court House. Lee's surrender occurred one day after his army's attempted to retrieve badly needed train supplies at nearby Appomattox Station, where he was thwarted by Union forces commanded by General Ulysses S. Grant.

When Lee met Grant at the McLean House to discuss and sign surrender terms and documents on April 9, 1865, elements of the Erie-area 83rd Pennsylvania Regiment were in the vicinity of Appomattox village. Lee surrendered to Grant on April 9, but the actual surrender ceremony at Appomattox didn't occur until April 12. A small number of 83rd Regiment troops were present that day at Appomattox. Some elements of the 83rd came forward to Appomattox with supplies. Union Brigadier General Joshua Chamberlain wrote to his sister on April 13, in his letter he mentions the units that were there, and he includes the 83rd Regiment.

The 83rd Pennsylvania Regiment consisted of men from Erie County and Northwestern Pennsylvania. Formed in September 1861, the 83rd Volunteer Infantry fought in nearly every eastern battlefield during the war and was regarded as one of the Civil War's most distinguished Union regiments. During the Battle of Appomattox Station on April 8, 1865, the Union Cavalry, commanded by Major General George A. Custer, fought mostly Confederate artillery personnel west of Appomattox Court House. Fighting lasted from late afternoon to dusk. Union forces ended the clash holding the high ground west of Appomattox Court House, blocking Lee's line of retreat. After fighting west of Appomattox Court House on April 9, Confederate forces found themselves surrounded by about 100,000 Union troops, prompting Lee's surrender. Most of the 83rd Regiment was stationed about 43 miles southeast of Appomattox Court House, at Burkeville, Virginia.

The regiment spent that previous week guarding Confederate prisoners and Union Army supply wagons and trains. On any given day different companies in the 83rd Regiment would have been assigned to different tasks on different roads, guarding supply trains and wagons. They found themselves moving supplies forward to Appomattox. Burkeville was a hub for Union Army supply trains.

After learning of Lee's surrender, Confederate General Joe Johnston met three times in April 1865 with Union General William Sherman near Durham, North Carolina. On April 26, 1865, Johnston surrendered his Army of Tennessee and all remaining Confederate forces still active in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida; about 90,000 soldiers. The 83rd Pennsylvania Regiment was among three Erie-area Civil War Union regiments, also including the 111th Regiment, and the 145th Regiment, that fought extensively throughout the conflict — Men from Erie County and Northwestern Pennsylvania also served in the 111th and 145th regiments.

The 83rd Regiment incurred the second-highest number of battle deaths of any Union regiment in the Civil War. The 83rd Regiment suffered 435 casualties — 282 killed or mortally wounded and 153 who died of disease, according to the reference book Regimental Losses in the Civil War. The book was researched and compiled by Union Army Colonel William Fox and first published in 1898. Fox is quoted to have said of the 83rd. "None of its losses were caused by blunders. None occurred in disastrous routs. Its dead always lay with their faces toward the enemy.''

Civil War casualties for the 111th Regiment totaled 304 — 145 killed or mortally wounded and 159 disease-related deaths. Casualties for the 145th Regiment totaled 422 — 205 killed or mortally wounded and 217 who died from disease. It’s Estimated that about 6,000 Erie County men served in the military during the Civil War, including about 1,000 who served in the Navy. More than 1,000 soldiers from Erie County were either killed or died from disease during the war.