On the afternoon of April 7, 1865, part of the Army of Northern Virginia entrenched at Cumberland Church to protect the westward route to Appomattox Station, where supplies awaited the men. The Confederate line stretched across the road and extended a third of a mile north before curling west. After repulsing several Union assaults, the Confederates also turned back an attack on their left flank, where Gen. William Mahone held the line. As evening fell, the Federals dug in. Under cover of darkness, the Confederate army slipped away, but it had lost valuable time as the Union army closed in. That evening, Gen. Robert E. Lee declined a request for surrender sent by Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. From Cumberland Church, Lee could see the Blue Ridge Mountains and still hoped to move west and then escape to North Carolina.
