Final answer:
As Union soldiers entered Richmond in 1865, General Lee's army was retreating with fewer than 35,000 men, having abandoned Richmond and Petersburg. General Grant's Union forces effectively cut off any Confederate hopes for consolidation, leading to Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House, signaling the end of the Civil War.
Step-by-step explanation:
As Union soldiers marched into Richmond in 1865, General Lee's army faced a dire situation. Due to a lack of resources, starvation, and disease, Lee's Confederate army was in retreat after abandoning both Petersburg and Richmond. Their goal was to unite with Confederate forces commanded by General Johnston.
However, General Ulysses S. Grant effectively blocked this move, leading to Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. By this point, Lee had fewer than 35,000 soldiers left, in stark contrast to Grant's roughly 100,000. The final surrender signaled the imminent end of the Civil War, though it came at the cost of over 600,000 lives.
General Lee had also witnessed the suffering the war brought to his own state and expressed his inability to endure the sacrifice of his men when the result seemed destined to end in the South's defeat. In the winter of 1865, Lee's requests for additional aid from the Confederate Congress were turned down, leaving him with a starving army, low morale, and the looming threat of Union forces overwhelming his dwindling numbers.