In part 173 of our Civil War series, Virginia Tech history professor James Robertson tells us about the most famous doll of the Civil War.
#173 – The Silent Witness
Most people know that Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses Grant on April 9, 1865. The ceremony occurred in the front parlor of Wilmer McLean’s home in Appomattox Courthouse. In addition to Lee and Grant, eighteen other officers were in the room where the Civil War in Virginia came to an end.
Generally unknown, then and now, is the fact that there was another witness to that dramatic scene on Palm Sunday, 1865. At the time, Wilmer McLean had a seven-year-old daughter named Lucretia, everyone called the child Lula.
Her most prized possession was a non-descript doll. It was 11 ½ inches tall and 6 ½ inches from hand to hand. The figure had no hair or feet. Burlap arms and legs had been attached by hand to a body assembled from the family rag bag. An over-stuffed potato shaped head had a painted face blurred by many kisses and tears from a child experiencing the confusion of civil war.
On that sunny April 9th morning, Lula was playing with her doll in the corner of the front parlor. Suddenly hundreds of Union soldiers began gathering in the front yard. Horsemen galloped back and forth. Shouts came from every direction. An important meeting was to take place in the McLean home.
Her father hastily collected his family and departed for safety to a friend’s house. All household furnishings were left behind including the ragdoll on the parlor floor. There is lay through the morning and into the afternoon as two opposing army commanders discussed the peaceful end to America’s greatest war.
Among the large contingent of Union soldiers who sat on the steps of the front porch while negotiations proceeded inside was Robert Todd Lincoln. The Northern President’s son and a member of Grant’s staff. After the surrender these officers rushed into the room to obtain souvenirs – a table, a lamp, a pencil, candlesticks – someone saw the doll on the floor. Federals laughingly tossed it to and fro like a ball.
They named the doll “The Silent Witness”. Each man wishing he could have been as fortunate to see what the doll had beheld. Finally, General Philip Sheridan, Chief of Cavalry, for the Union army secured possession of the doll. Sheridan gave it to an aide, Captain Thomas W. C. Moore of New York.
The sad doll seemingly was to leave its mistress and its home forever. With the end of the war Captain Moore returned home with his treasured souvenir. At his death in 1881, his son Richard inherited the trophy. The son kept the doll in a small glass case in the library of his Long Island, New York home.
The McLean house was eventually restored. In April, 1950, it opened to the public. Few of the original furnishings were there. For example, the table in which Lee signed the surrender document is the property of the Chicago Historical Society. Grant’s table is at the Smithsonian Institution.
Park officials were aware that Lula McLean’s ragdoll belonged to the Moore family. Ever getting it back seemed unlikely. In 1952, Captain Moore’s son, Richard died. His widow then made an unannounced visit to Appomattox Courthouse National Historical Park. Mrs. Moore was impressed by the careful restoration of the village and the genuine reverence exhibited by the staff. She determined to return the doll to Virginia.
After the passage of 127 years, the doll’s face was barely discernible. Yet the unbleached burlap body, head of woven cotton fabric and tan floral print bodice were in remarkable condition. In 1993, National Park Service Ranger Joe Williams brought the doll from New York to Appomattox.
Appropriately “The Silent Witness” went on display at Memorial Day of that year. The oldest and tiniest Confederate prisoner of war had at last come home. Today the little figure is one of the treasured jewels at the Appomattox Park.
