04/09/2015 10:50 AM EDT
On this day in 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House in Virginia. While Lee’s surrender did not end the Civil War, the act is seen by most Americans as the symbolic end of four years of bloodshed. Today, Appomattox Court House National Historical Park – along with other National Battlefields – will commemorate the 150th anniversary of that surrender with the ringing of the bells. Photo by Tami A. Heilimann, Interior.