The Civil War consisted of many horrifying battles and skirmishes. Beginning on April 12 of 1861 the War Between the States, as it was later known to some, lasted almost four whole years! Finally, on April 9, 1865, it ended, when Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his battered army to Union General Ulysses S. Grant in Virginia. More specifically, Appomattox Court House in Virginia. Thus the gruesome war ended, leaving many distressed families without men.