After four years of fierce fighting, the Union Army, led by generals such as Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman, emerged victorious. Confederate generals, including Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, surrendered to Union forces.
The surrender of the Confederate Army marked the end of the Civil War and the beginning of the Reconstruction era, during which the United States grappled with the aftermath of the war, issues related to slavery and its abolition, and the challenges of reuniting the country.