Appomattox in Appomattox County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)

Civil War Landscape

Photographed by Evan Dwyer, December 20, 2025

1. Civil War Landscape Marker

Inscription. At the time of the Civil War, the land around you was open farms with patches of forest. In front of you stood a woodlot where General Robert E. Lee made his final bivouac. Behind you, farm fields stretched across the shallow valley to the village of Appomattox Court House about a mile away. In the 1800s, most families in this region were farmers. Tobacco was the primary cash crop, but a wide variety of grains, orchards, and livestock provided for family needs. Farming practices of the time, however, depleted and eroded the soil, particularly on hillsides. By the early 1900s, many people left declining farms in pursuit of a better life in cities.

Follow the trail 370 ft and turn right at the intersection for the next sign

Erected by National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Agriculture • Environment • War, US Civil. A significant historical month for this entry is April 1865.

Location. 37° 23.391′ N, 78° 46.935′ W. Marker is in Appomattox, Virginia, in Appomattox County. It can be reached from Old Courthouse Road (Virginia Route 24) north

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of Horseshoe Road ( Route 656), on the right when traveling north. Marker is within Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, on the Tobacco Prizery Nature Trail accessible on foot from the trailhead at Lee's Headquarters Wayside. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Appomattox VA 24522, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Piedmont

and in Central Virginia.

It is also in the American South

and specifically in the Upper South.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Historic Vegetation (about 700 feet away, measured in a direct line); Confederate Field Hospital (about 700 feet away); Lee’s Last Headquarters (about 700 feet away); Confederates Trapped (about 700 feet away); ANV Headquarters (about 800 feet away);

Tobacco Prizery Rolling Road Trace image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Evan Dwyer, December 20, 2025

2. Tobacco Prizery Rolling Road Trace

Part of the trail follows a road trace for the Sweeney Tobacco Prizery. The marker is downhill from this well-defined section of old road.

Conner House Site (approx. 0.2 miles away); Sweeney Prizery (approx. ¼ mile away); The Charles Sweeney Cabin (approx. half a mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Appomattox.

Regarding Civil War Landscape. The marker is slightly in error - the headquarters camp up the hill was not Lee's final bivouac, as the marker indicates. Lee made camp - bivouaced - in three more locations on his trip from Appomattox to Richmond, stopping first to camp in Buckingham County near Sheppard's Tavern (Rose Cottage at Lee Wayside), once at Flanagan's Mill in Cumberland County near Cartersville, and then again on the fields adjacent to his brother's home, Windsor, in Powhatan County. Each site except for Flanagan's Mill has a marker claiming the title of Lee's last camp/bivouac. Only the Powhatan location can accurately make that claim.

Lee's Last Headquarters image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Evan Dwyer, December 20, 2025

3. Lee's Last Headquarters

Lee's Headquarters site is uphill from the marker and has its own marker of 1893 vintage, erected by the War Department and accessible by trail from the same parking lot. The visitor does not have to take the Tobacco Prizery Nature Trail to see Lee's HQ, it has its own short loop.

Credits. This page was last revised on January 22, 2026. It was originally submitted on January 21, 2026, by Evan Dwyer of Richmond, Virginia. This page has been viewed 49 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on January 21, 2026, by Evan Dwyer of Richmond, Virginia. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.