Clifton

Clifton was the home of Joseph Crute and his family in 1865. Early on April 8, part of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia marched by the house, followed soon by a pursuing Union army corps. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant spent that night in the house, while Gen. George G. Meade, commander of the Army of the Potomac, camped a few hundred yards behind Clifton. Grant, suffering from a "sick" or migraine headache, shared the lone bed with his adjutant, Gen. John A. Rawlins, while the rest of Grant's staff slept on the parlor floor. Despite his headache, Grant allowed his staff to play an out-of-tune piano. Earlier that day, Grant had exchanged inconclusive messages with Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee on the subject of surrender., Grant later wrote that he spent the night "bathing my feet in hot water and mustard, and putting mustard plasters on my wrists and the back part of my neck, hoping to be cured by morning." The treatments failed. Early on April 9, Grant and his headache took the road toward Appomattox Court House. A few miles east of the courthouse, an officer arrived with a message from Lee, who agreed to meet Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his horse, Cincinnati Courtesy Library of Congress Grant to discuss surrender terms. "The instant I saw the contents of the note," Grant wrote, "I was cured.", (captions) , Gen. George M. Meade . Gen. John A. Rawlins. Courtesy Library of Congress , Clifton, ca. 1970s Courtesy Sailor's Creek Battlefield Historic State Park , Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his horse, Cincinnati Courtesy Library of Congress , Lee's Retreat, April 3-9, 1865