At the end of the war, it was a member of the Seneca tribe, Gen. Ely S. Parker, who drew up the articles of surrender which Gen. Robert E. Lee signed at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. Parker, a trained lawyer who was once rejected for army service because of his race, served as Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's military secretary.
At Appomattox, Lee is said to have remarked to Parker: "I am glad to see one real American here," to which Parker replied, "We are all Americans."