April, 1865.
At three o'clock Monday morning, April 3d, Wilcox's division of the Ninth Corps entered Petersburg just in season to see the rear guard of Lee's army disappear over the hills on the north bank of the Appomattox, having burned the bridges and destroyed all the supplies which could not be transported. Lee's army was divided,—Longstreet, Pickett, and Johnson being south of the stream, fifteen miles west of the city. Gordon, Mahone, Ewell, and Elzy, with the immense trains of supplies and batteries from Richmond, were north of the river,—all moving southwest, towards Danville, with the intention of joining Johnston in North Carolina.
"Good by, boys," said the women of Petersburg, some sorrowfully; others more joyful cried, "We'll drink pure coffee, with sugar in it, to-morrow. No more hard times."[107] They were weary of war. The troops passed through the town in silence and dejection. It was a sorrowful march. The successive disasters of Sunday, the sudden breaking up, the destruction of property, the scenes of the night, soon had their effect upon the spirits of the army. Soldiers slipped from the ranks, disappeared in the woods, and threw away their muskets, sick at heart, and disgusted with war. Virginia soldiers had little inclination to abandon the Old Dominion and fight in North Carolina. They were State-rights men,—each State for itself. If Secession could cut loose from the Union, why not from the Confederacy?
Before noon the troops moving from Petersburg, and those retreating from Richmond, with all the baggage-trains and flying citizens, came together on the Chesterfield road, producing confusion and delay. Had Lee thrown his supply trains upon the Lynchburg road, and made a day's march farther west with his army, instead of taking the nearest road to Danville, he probably would have escaped; but his progress was very slow. The roads were soft, the wagons overloaded. The stalling of a single horse in the advance delayed the whole army.
The teamsters were quite as unwilling to go south as the soldiers. They were expecting every moment to hear the ringing shouts of Sheridan's men charging upon their flank or rear. There were frequent panics, which set them into a fever of excitement, and added to the confusion.
Grant determined to prevent Lee's escape if possible. The Ninth Corps was detailed to hold the town, guard the railroad, reconstruct it, and follow the other corps as a reserve. The Second, Fifth, and Sixth Corps, instead of crossing the river were sent upon the double-quick along the road which runs between the Appomattox and the South Side Railroad.
Ord, with the divisions of the Twenty-Fourth and Twenty-Fifth Corps, marched for Burkesville Junction. Sheridan, being in advance with the cavalry, reached Jettersville, on the Richmond and Danville road, forty-four miles from Richmond, on the 4th, tore up the track, intrenched his position, and waited for the infantry. Meade joined him on the morning of the 5th, while Ord, by a forced march, reached Burkesville, south of Sheridan.
Lee crossed the Appomattox at Clemenstown, moved southwest to Amelia Court-House, where he was joined by Longstreet's, Pickett's, and Johnson's troops. The Appomattox has its rise in Prince Edward county, runs northeast, approaching within fifteen miles of the James, then turns southeast, and joins the James at Petersburg.
