The name Wilmer McLean may not be found in most history books, but if it isn’t in the Guinness Book, it should be. The man moved his family during the Civil War, and if real estate is all about location, location, location, then Wilmer McLean was probably the luckiest home buyer of all time.
Or unluckiest, depending on your point of view.
Related: 12 surprising facts that might change the way you see the Civil War
The opening shots of the Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter, in Charleston Harbor, in April 1861. With the exception of a cannon accident that killed a Union artilleryman after the fort surrendered, there were no casualties. The major outcome of that was that the Civil War was officially on.
It was in Virginia, however, some three months later, that the Confederate and Union armies would meet in the first major battle of that war. General P.G.T. Beauregard (who happened to command the Confederates at Fort Sumter) used McLean’s house as his headquarters during that engagement, a battle that would become known as the First Battle of Bull Run. Or First Manassas, depending on your point of view.
During the fighting at Bull Run/Manassas, a Union cannonball came crashing down McLean’s chimney, into his fireplace, shattering the mantle into chunks of brick and mortar, while the general staff was, apparently, having a meal. Beauregard later wrote: “A comical effect of this artillery fight was the destruction of the dinner of myself and staff by a Federal shell that fell into the fireplace of my headquarters at the McLean House.”
McLean served in the Virginia militia but was too old to return to military service for either army by the time the Civil War rolled around, so he didn’t fight for either side. He became a merchant-trader for the Confederate Army, but operating his business so close to the Union lines was hazardous, so after that first battle, he moved his family south… to a small area called Appomattox Court House.
Time passed. More battles were fought. The Civil War raged on. But Wilmer McLean probably thought he was far enough away from any of the fighting. He was kind of correct, until his house became the most important site in Civil War history. On April 8, 1865, Gen. Robert E. Lee and Gen. Ulysses S. Grant found themselves and their staffs in McLean’s parlor, discussing the terms of the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia and the beginning of the end of the Civil War.
After the two generals left the house, Union officers began taking everything in the room as souvenirs. Some paid McLean for their prizes, some didn’t, but they took everything, including his daughter’s toy doll.
