General Lee's attempts to overtake the Appomattox Rail Station in Virginia and obtain much needed supplies were thwarted by General Grant. The weakened armies of Lee eventually became surrounded on three sides and on April 9, 1865, after four years of Civil War, over 620,000 deaths and over 1 million casualties, General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia to Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, general-in-chief of the Union forces, at the home of Wilmer and Virginia McLean in the town of Appomattox Court House, Virginia. General Lee arrived at the McLean home shortly after 1:00 PM followed a half hour later by General Grant. The meeting lasted approximately 1 1/2 hours. Grant allows the Confederate officers to keep their sidearms and permits soldiers to keep horses and mules. The surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia allowed the Federal Government to bring increased pressure to bear in other parts of the south and resulted in the surrender of the remaining field armies of the Confederacy in the next few months.