They said they believed that Johnston was marching up from North Carolina now, and Lee was moving to join him; and they would whip the rebels where they now were in five minutes if I would only let them go in.

But I had no doubt about the good faith of Lee, and pretty soon was conducted to where he was.

I found him at the house of a Mr.McLean, at Appomattox Court House, with Colonel Marshall, one of his staff officers, awaiting my arrival.

The head of his column was occupying a hill, on a portion of which was an apple orchard, beyond a little valley which separated it from that on the crest of which Sheridan's forces were drawn up in line of battle to the south.
Before stating what took place between General Lee and myself, I will give all there is of the story of the famous apple tree.
Wars produce many stories of fiction, some of which are told until they are believed to be true.

The war of the rebellion was no exception to this rule, and the story of the apple tree is one of those fictions based on a slight foundation of fact.