Skip to Main Content.
List your propertySupportTrips
The initial engagement on July 21, 1861 of what would become the First Battle of Bull Run (First Manassas) took place on McLean's farm in Manassas, Virginia. Union Army artillery fired at McLean's house, which was being used as a headquarters for Confederate Brigadier General P. G. T. Beauregard, and a cannonball dropped through the kitchen fireplace. McLean was a retired major in the Virginia militia, but at 47, he was too old to return to active duty at the outbreak of the Civil War. In the spring of 1863, he and his family moved about 120 miles south to Appomattox County, Virginia, near a dusty, crossroads community called Appomattox Court House. On April 9, 1865, the war revisited McLean. Confederate General Robert E. Lee was about to surrender to Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant. He sent a messenger to Appomattox Court House to find a place to meet. On April 8, 1865, the messenger knocked on McLean's door and requested the use of his home, to which McLean reluctantly agreed. Lee surrendered to Grant in the parlor of McLean's house, effectively ending the Civil War. Later, McLean is supposed to have said "The war began in my front yard and ended in my front parlor."
Photo by Ronald Wilson
Open Photo by Ronald Wilson

Appomattox County Vacations

Book a Hotel + Flight or Car together to unlock savings

  • Plan, book, travel with confidence

    • payments icon
    Better together
    Save up to SAR 390 when you book a flight and hotel together*
    lob hotels icon
    Find the right fit
    With over 300,000 hotels worldwide, it's easy to create a perfect package
    lob packages icon
    Rest easy
    Plan, book, and manage your trip all in one place
* Savings based on package bookings compared to the price of the same components booked separately. Savings not available on all packages.