150 Years Ago: April 12

On April 12, 1865, Robert E. Lee wrote a letter to Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, reporting the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia. That letter can be read here. 

Warned by Lee that he could no longer defend Richmond, Davis and his cabinet had fled the Confederate capital on April 3. Davis went first to Danville, Virginia, where he established himself in the mansion of William T. Sutherlin, later to be known as the Last Capitol of the Confederacy.

It was from the steps of the Sutherlin mansion that Davis delivered his last official proclamation as president of the Confederacy. Davis stayed in Danville until April 10 before fleeing farther south to Greensboro, North Carolina. Since 1974, the Sutherlin mansion has been the Danville Museum of Fine Arts & History.
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