Because the Army of Northern Virginia had run out of men and materials (literally they were barefoot and starving), and Joe Johnston's army could do no more than 'annoy' Sherman.
It was time to give up.
By April of 1865, Lee's Army of Northern Virginia was in a state of irreversible repair. Food was in short supply if any, and Grant had Lee surrounded. Grant sent a letter to Lee urging him to "cease all resistance, ...." The only chance Lee had was no chance at all. His depleted army of less than 30,000, he would have to fight an estimated Union force of 80,000 troops to escape to Lynchburg. Grant and Lee met in the home of Wilmer McClean at the Appomattox Court House. There the surrender papers were signed. For all practical purposes the war was over. However, not officially over as there were thousands of other Confederate troops in the South and else where.
In the American Civil War, a variety of events led to Lee's final surrender at Appomattox Court House. Most importantly, Lee's army had been surrounded. Moreover, Union troops were also in control in the Deep South, with General Sherman's "March to the Sea" having ravaged Georgia and threatening to do the same to other portions of the South.
The Battle of Appomattox Courthouse was very important to the Civil war, because it was basically the end of the war. General Robert E. Lee (of the south) surrendered because his troops were scarce, and they didn't have enough supplies. General Grant (of the north) accepted the surrender with a warm welcome back, and in General Grant's words, "The war is over. The rebels are our countrymen again."
Because they were barefoot and starving. Lee was hoping to escape South, to join forces with Joe Johnston in Carolina, but Phil Sheridan kept shunting him West into the mountains. Eventually their supply-line was cut.
Appomattox Court HouseAnswerThat is in Virginia. BTW, many towns in that area of Virginia had a name ending in "Court House". This was the site where General Robert Lee surrendered on April 9, 1865. Other units were still fighting in other places. General Joseph Johnston surrendered his army two weeks after General Lee, on April 26, 1865. Gen. Johnston was able to catch a portion of Sherman's army by surprise at the Battle of Bentonville, March 19, 1865. He was forced to retreat. After learning of Lee's surrender, Gen. Johnston surrendered his army to Sherman at the Bennett Place near Durham, North Carolina, despite orders to the contrary from Jefferson Davis.The Battle of Fort Blakely took place from April 2-April 9, 1865 in Baldwin County, Alabama, as part of the Mobile Campaign. This was same day that General Lee surrendered.The Battle of Palmito Ranch, outside Brownsville, TX, was fought on May 12 - May 13, 1865. There were 118 Union casualties and the Confederate casualties were "a few dozen" wounded, none killed. Texas armies formally surrendered on May 26, 1865, when Confederate General Kirby Smith surrendered his Trans-Mississippi Department. On June 2, he fled to Galveston, TX, into Mexico and on to Cuba.Another late surrender that was quite insignificant ---The CSS Shenandoah was an iron-framed, teak-planked, full-rigged vessel with auxiliary steam power, under Captain James Waddell, CSN. The Shenandoah fired the last shot of the American Civil War, in waters off the Aleutian Islands. Waddell headed north past the Aleutian Islands into the Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean. On June 23,1865 he learned from a prize of General Robert Lee's surrender 10 weeks previously. Nevertheless, he elected to continue hostilities, and captured 21 more prizes. Finally, Waddell brought the Shenandoah into Liverpool, England, on November 6, 1865, and surrendered her to British authorities.1865
The Point of the civil war of the south's surrender is Appomattox, and Fort Sumpter was the first battle
Officially, on Palm Sunday, 9 April 1865 when General Lee signed a surrender at Appomattox Court House, Virginia
This battle was the final defeat of General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. All of Virginia including the Confederate capital fell into Union hands. Nearly all other large Confederate forces surrendered within a few weeks of the Appomattox Court House surrender.
The south surrendered to the north.
The South surrendered to the North at Appomattox Court House in Virginia on April 9, 1865, effectively ending the American Civil War.
General U.S. Grant accepted the surrender of the south at appomattox courthouse.
Appomattox Courthouse
In just over a week at the battle of Appomattox, General Lee had lost more than half his army. After the loss of the Battle at Appomattox Court House it was time to cut his losses. To prevent further destruction of the south, he surrendered to General Grant at Appomattox Court House
Appomattox Court House, near Lynchburg, Virginia. Ironically, the surrender document was signed in the parlor of Wilmer McClean, the same man on whose farm in Manassas the first major battle of the war (First Battle of Bull Run) had been fought in July 1861. (During the battle, McClean's house had served as headquarters to Brigadier General P.G.T. Beauregard.) In 1863, due the the presence of the Union army, McClean moved his family 120 miles south to the area near Appomattox Court House.
The Confederates had abandoned Richmond, and they were trying to head West, but ran out of steam at Appomattox Court House. Tha was where the surrender took place - officially an armistice, not a treaty. But it is taken as the end-point of the Civil War.
Appomattox Court House is a national historic site, because the Confederacy (south) surrendered here. They surrendered shortly after the Union (north) invaded and captured their capitol, which was Richmond, Virginia.
After the surrender of the Confederacy at Appomattox Court House, the main priority of the U.S. was to reunify the nation and rebuild the South. This involved addressing the political, social, and economic challenges of Reconstruction, including integrating formerly enslaved individuals into society and ensuring their rights. Additionally, there was a focus on restoring the Southern states to the Union and determining the terms of their reintegration. The broader goal was to foster national healing and prevent further conflict.