Lee did not intend to surrender, but planned to regroup at
Appomattox Station, where supplies were to be waiting, and then continue the war. Grant chased Lee and got in front of him, so that when Lee's army reached the
village of Appomattox Court House, they were surrounded. After
an initial battle, Lee decided the fight was hopeless, and surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia to Grant on April 9, 1865, during a conference at the
McLean House. In an untraditional gesture and as a sign of Grant's respect and anticipation of peacefully restoring Confederate states to the Union, Lee was permitted to keep his sword and horse,
Traveller. His men were
paroled, and a chain of Confederate surrenders began.