Clover Hill Tavern

Clover Hill Tavern

Quick Facts

Amenities

2 listed

Benches/Seating, Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits

Because Lee’s surrender only included the Army of Northern Virginia, many of the men paroled at Appomattox Court House had to pass through active war zones to return to their homes. To ensure that Lee’s men were not mistaken for deserters or active combatants by other Confederate and Federal forces, Grant agreed to print parole passes that would allow each man to navigate safely through areas where the armies remained active. These passes allowed the paroled Confederates to secure free passage on board Federal trains and steamships, and they also permitted Lee’s men to draw rations from any Federal forces they encountered on the way home. On April 10, Federal soldiers set up printing presses in the Clover Hill Tavern and General George Sharpe oversaw the printing of approximately 30,000 passes in the span of about 30 hours. Once printed, the passes were distributed to Confederate officers who filled them out for the men they commanded.