<P> The fighting of the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War between Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant's Army of the Potomac and Lee's Army of Northern Virginia was reported considerably more often in the newspapers than the battles of the Western Theater . Reporting of the Eastern Theater skirmishes largely dominated the newspapers as the Appomattox Campaign developed . </P> <P> Lee's army fought a series of battles in the Appomattox Campaign against Grant that ultimately stretched thin his lines of defense . Lee's extended lines were mostly on small sections of thirty miles of strongholds around Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia . His troops ultimately became exhausted defending this line because they were too thinned out . Grant then took advantage of the situation and launched attacks on this thirty mile long poorly defended front . This ultimately led to the surrender of Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox . </P> <P> The Army of Northern Virginia surrendered on April 9 around noon followed by General St. John Richardson Liddell's troops some six hours later . Mosby's Raiders disbanded on April 21, General Joseph E. Johnston and his various armies surrendered on April 26, the Confederate departments of Alabama, Mississippi and East Louisiana surrendered on May 4, and the Confederate District of the Gulf, commanded by Major General Dabney Herndon Maury, surrendered on May 5 . Confederate President Jefferson Davis was captured on May 10, along with the Confederate Departments of Florida and South Georgia, commanded by Confederate Major General Samuel Jones . Also on May 10, U.S. President Andrew Johnson declared the rebellion's armed resistance virtually ended . Thompson's Brigade surrendered on May 11, Confederate forces of North Georgia surrendered on May 12, and Kirby Smith surrendered on May 26 (officially signed June 2). The last battle of the American Civil War was the Battle of Palmito Ranch in Texas on May 12 and 13 . The last significant Confederate active force to surrender was the Confederate allied Cherokee Brigadier General Stand Watie and his Indian soldiers on June 23 . The last Confederate surrender occurred on November 6, 1865, when the Confederate warship CSS Shenandoah surrendered at Liverpool, England . President Johnson formally declared the end of the war on August 20, 1866 . </P> <P> General Robert E. Lee commanded the Army of Northern Virginia, while Major General John Brown Gordon commanded its Second Corps . Early in the morning of April 9, Gordon attacked, aiming to break through Federal lines at the Battle of Appomattox Court House, but failed, and the Confederate Army was then surrounded . At 8: 30 A.M. that morning, Lee requested a meeting with Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant to discuss surrendering the Army of Northern Virginia . Shortly after twelve o'clock, Grant's reply reached Lee, and in it Grant said he would accept the surrender of the Confederate Army under certain conditions . Lee then rode into the little hamlet of Appomattox Court House, where the Appomattox county court house stood, and waited for Grant's arrival to surrender his army . </P>

Who brought the civil war to an end in april 1865