1870: Robert E. Lee, commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, died. As the military leader of the Confederates during the Civil War, Lee fought battles at Bull Run, Antietam, and Gettysburg as he sought to push north from the Confederate capital in Richmond, Virginia and other southern points to capture Washington, D.C. He surrendered to the Union on April 9, 1865 at the McLean House in Appomattox Court House, Virginia.