What was happening in the south spring of 1865?

Spring 1865 was a pivotal time in the history of the United States, as the American Civil War reached its climax. Confederate forces led by General Robert E. Lee surrendered to the Union Army under the command of General Ulysses S. Grant at the Battle of Appomattox Court House, Virginia, effectively ending the conflict.

Here's a timeline of key events that occurred during the spring of 1865 in the South:

1. February 3, 1865: The Hampton Roads Conference was held in Hampton, Virginia, between President Abraham Lincoln and Confederate Vice President Alexander H. Stephens. The meeting sought to negotiate a peaceful end to the war, but no agreement was reached.

2. March 4, 1865: Lincoln was inaugurated as president for his second term. In his inaugural address, he called for a "firm, but fair, peace."

3. March 9, 1865: General William Tecumseh Sherman's Union forces began the Carolinas Campaign, aiming to capture Raleigh, North Carolina, and Columbia, South Carolina.

4. March 17, 1865: Sherman's Union troops captured Fayetteville, North Carolina.

5. March 25, 1865: The Union Army took possession of Selma, Alabama, an important Confederate manufacturing and supply center.

6. April 1, 1865: The Union Army under General Philip Sheridan captured Petersburg, Virginia, a crucial Confederate supply hub.

7. April 2, 1865: The Confederate capital, Richmond, Virginia, fell to Union forces, forcing Lee and his army to retreat westward.

8. April 9, 1865: Lee's Army of Northern Virginia surrendered to Grant's Union forces at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, effectively ending the Civil War.

9. April 14, 1865: President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.

10. May 26, 1865: Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith surrendered his forces in Galveston, Texas, marking the official end of the Civil War.

These events in the spring of 1865 brought an end to the four-year conflict that had divided the United States and set the nation on a path toward reconciliation and reconstruction.