The initial engagement on July 21, 1861 of what would become the First Battle of Bull Run (First Manassas) took place on McLean's farm in Manassas, Virginia. Union Army artillery fired at McLean's house, which was being used as a headquarters for Confederate Brigadier General P. G. T. Beauregard, and a cannonball dropped through the kitchen fireplace.

McLean was a retired major in the Virginia militia, but at 47, he was too old to return to active duty at the outbreak of the Civil War. In the spring of 1863, he and his family moved about 120 miles south to Appomattox County, Virginia, near a dusty, crossroads community called Appomattox Court House.

On April 9, 1865, the war revisited McLean. Confederate General Robert E. Lee was about to surrender to Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant. He sent a messenger to Appomattox Court House to find a place to meet. On April 8, 1865, the messenger knocked on McLean's door and requested the use of his home, to which McLean reluctantly agreed. Lee surrendered to Grant in the parlor of McLean's house, effectively ending the Civil War. Later, McLean is supposed to have said "The war began in my front yard and ended in my front parlor."

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Top Piney Mountain Hotel Reviews

Holiday Inn Express & Suites Farmville by IHG

10/10 Excellent

"Everything was great. "

Spark by Hilton Lynchburg

10/10 Excellent

"I did have to wait for the ftont desk staff to show up when checking in. I waited about 10 minutes. There was no bell to ring. I was on my phone calling hotel, when she showed up. We checked in around 6pm. She said she was folding towels, but I did hear a conversation going on and laughing. We had just driven 9 hrs n just wanted to get to our room. "