Historical Notes: This Hallowed Ground

In the two-story brick house of Major Wilmer McLean at Appomattox, Va., on Palm Sunday, 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to Lieut. General Ulysses S. Grant. That act signified the end of the Civil War, and with it the bloodshed that cost the lives of 618,000 men—more than have died in all of America's other wars combined.-

Last week, 100 years later to the day, 17,000 people gathered under a leaden sky at the Appomattox Court House to witness the centennial commemoration.

Hawking Hucksters. So concluded an observance that began 41 years ago under...