Grant’s Pursuit

Since the fall of Petersburg the week before, Grant and his armies pursued Lee relentlessly in the final effort to vanquish the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. One Union column struck Lee’s rear guard while another moved along his left flank to cut the Confederates off. On the evening of April 8, 1865, Union cavalry reached Appomattox Station and captured trainloads of rations for a Confederate army that had not been fully fed in days. More than 60,000 Union troops from most of three armies pressed on to Appomattox Court House, mounting a final effort on April 8 and deploying in the fields on either side of the Richmond-Lynchburg Stage Road just ahead of Lee’s line of retreat. On the morning of April 9, 1865, Union troops finally placed themselves across Lee’s path as Union cavalry fought his men on the distant ridge and Union infantry joined the battle. Lee attempted to break through, but any hope of moving westward on the Richmond-Lynchburg Stage Road vanished, leaving surrender as his only rational choice.

Virginia · United States