when did civil war end

The American Civil War effectively ended on April 9, 1865, when Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia.

However, there are a few different “end” dates people sometimes mean:

• Practical military end (most common answer):
  • April 9, 1865 – Lee’s surrender at Appomattox is widely treated as the moment the war was effectively over.

• Last major Confederate surrenders:
  • April 26, 1865 – General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered his large Confederate force in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida.

* June 2, 1865 – Final surrender of Confederate troops in the Trans‑Mississippi (including forces around Galveston, Texas).

* November 6, 1865 – The Confederate raider CSS Shenandoah finally surrendered at sea, ending Confederate naval operations.

• Legal end of the war:
  • August 20, 1866 – President Andrew Johnson issued a proclamation declaring the rebellion ended and peace restored throughout the United States; U.S. courts later treated this as the official legal end date.

If you’re answering a quick quiz or school question to “When did the Civil War end?”, April 9, 1865 is usually the expected date, but historians sometimes highlight the later surrenders and Johnson’s 1866 proclamation for a more precise picture.