The Wrong Place at the Wrong Time

Virginia farmer Wilmer McLean claimed that the Civil War began in his front yard and ended in his back parlor. And unfortunately for McLean and his family, he was correct - in a way.

BULL RUN OR MANASSAS
In the summer of 1861, McLean lived on a farm near the town on Manassas. Nearby was a small stream called Bull Run. The first shots of the Civil War had been fired only three months earlier, and now thirty thousand Confederate and thirty-seven thousand Union soldiers were gathering around Manassas. Fighting soon swept across the McLean farm. The Confederates used the McLean house as a headquarters and hospital. A cannon shell even landed in the McLeans' kitchen. The First Battle of Bull Run, called Manassas by Confederates, was the first major battle of the Civil War.

ENOUGH OF THIS!
To avoid the war, McLean moved his family away from Manassas. With his wife, four daughters and one son, McLean found a very nice house in the town of Appomattox Court House, Virginia, where he hoped his family would never see another soldier.

HERE WE GO AGAIN
The war raged on for another three and a half years. In spring 1865, the Confederate Army was near defeat. The Union Army had been chasing Robert E. Lee's Army of Nothern Virginia throughout Virginia. In early April, the Confederates were caught near Appomattox Court House. Lee knew that he must surrender. Representatives of the two armies picked a location for the formal surrender. Unfortunately for Wilmer McLean, the site turned out to be his house.

IN THE END
Soon after the surrender, soldiers took most of the McLean's household items. The soldiers wanted souvenirs from the historic event. The story of Wilmer McLean is definitely one of being in the wrong place at the wrong time - twice!

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