On the afternoon of April 8, 1865, near Appomattox Station Depot on the South Side Railroad, Union cavalrymen under Gen. George A. Custer dealt the Army of Northern Virginia a final blow by capturing trains loaded with Confederate supplies and then attacking and capturing Gen. R. Lindsay Walker’s wagons and artillery in bivouac half a mile to the north. When news of this disaster reached Gen. Robert E. Lee at his headquarters a few miles northeast, he knew the end was near. He and Gen. Ulysses S. Grant had exchanged letters about surrender, and Lee had suggested a meeting between the lines the next day. With Union horsemen now blocking his escape route, Lee’s only hope was to punch through them with a combined force of infantry and cavalry, so he scheduled a breakout attack for dawn; if it failed, or if Federal infantry also stood in front of him, he would have no choice but to surrender.