The meeting of the two commanders at Appomattox was a historic
moment, as both of them felt strongly at the time.
It seemed to bring out the noble side in both of these vastly
different men - Grant, the rough, simple Westerner who dressed like
a tramp, and Lee, the representative Southern aristocrat, in his
splendid dress uniform and sword.
Grant surprised Lee by offering generous terms. If the men would
hand in their weapons and sign the pledge never to take up arms
against the USA, they would be allowed to go home and not be
persecuted - no jailings, no hangings.
In return Lee prevented his officers from taking to the hills
and carrying on guerrilla warfare, as many of them were threatening
to do. Probably only Lee carried enough authority to get this order
respected.