When did the war end?

I am curious about the opinions of the forum.

When do you feel the war ended?
And why do you select that date?

It ended? Seriously? Why didn't anybody say something.

Spend enough time around some of these kind of sites and you'll see that for some people it hasn't ended yet.

Alrighty then - certainly gives me a flavor for the opinion of some.

I think as a rule most accept the surrender of Lee as the marker point. And that makes sense as usually when the commanding General of all forces surrenders the jig is up.


Although I would also accept November 6th 1865. The date the CSS Shenandoah surrendered. As far as I know that was the last confederate 'command'.

it hasnt

It's almost over. It won't be long before the South has secured the industries and reduced the North to subjugation. It's been a long hard fight though and I give the Yankees credit for a stubborn fight.

Legally, it ended with Johnston's proclamation of August 20, 1866. That's when the rebellion was declared to be at an end in Texas, the last vestiges of it.

An interesting case can be made that the war continued by other means during Reconstruction.

Northwing conspiracy?

I agree with Cash on this. Reconstruction was most definatley a continuation of the War. Like it wasn't enough to have the Confederate army surrendered and the South laying in devastation, Radicals had to continue southern subjugation.

Did Lee have the authority to speak for the CSA ?
Or would it have mattered as the CSA was never recognized as a legitimate government?

I don't see any continuation of any "southern subjugation" by the Radicals, but I do see terrorism on the part of southern whites in order to continue subjugation of blacks.

If we define the CW has the use of arms to keep Afro-Americans in subservience then the CW ended by the late 1960's when the FBI via contertelpro broke up the KKK. The KKK still exists but not has an effective armed force. While a major civil conflict may indeed occur on some sort of left vs right wing fault line the South of the 1860's no longer exists. La and Sc have Indian governors and in 2008 Obama has we know won Va,Nc and Fl. By 2050 per the US Census we will be a majority non white nation. I dont think this is what Davis and Lee had in mind for the future.
Leftyhunter

Leftyhunter,

Interesting comment.

Sincerely,
Unionblue

The war ended April 9, 1865, when Lee gained formal terms from Grant. The generous terms provided by Grant paved the way for the surrender of other armies still in the field. When Lee surrendered the ANV the people of the south knew the war was lost. Up to this point they believed that as long as Lee and the ANV continued the fight that there was a chance of victory for the southern troops.

Since McCausland never surrendered, does that mean the war didn't end till he died in January 22, 1927?

For some, as I pour through these threads reading some great Civil War stories, it will never end.

Mulejack

In my view, the war was over when General Grant ordered the cease fire of Union cannon firing a victory salute at Appomattox, stating that the rebels were now our fellow countrymen.

I say it ended when the last army in the field surrendered. Organized regular units were shooting at each other and men were dying weeks after Lee surrendered. It took over two weeks for the news to reach Alabama and Georgia, and at first, the story of Lee's surrender was dismissed as rumor and hoax. Oddly enough, the Lincoln assassination was believed by the same sources.