Anderson crossed Sailor’s Creek, closely followed by Ewell. The route by which they were to march was by High Bridge, but they were on strange ground, without maps, or instructions, or commander. In the absence of orders Anderson thought to march for the noise of battle, at Rice’s Station. They had no artillery or cavalry. The chief of cavalry was there, but his troopers were elsewhere, and he rode away, advising the force to follow him. The rear-guard came up rapidly and essayed to deploy for defence, but the close pursuit of Humphreys’s corps forced its continued march for High Bridge, letting the pursuit in upon Ewell’s rear. As Anderson marched he found Merritt’s cavalry square across his route. Humphreys was close upon Ewell, but the former awaited battle for the arrival of the Sixth Corps.
There was yet a way of escape from the closing clutches of the enemy by filing to their right and marching to the rear of the command at Rice’s Station; but they were true soldiers, and decided to fight, even to sacrifice their commands if necessary, to break or delay the pursuit until the trains and rear-guard could find safety beyond High Bridge.
Ewell deployed his divisions, Kershaw’s on the right, G. W. C. Lee’s on the left. Their plan was, that Anderson should attack and open the way while Ewell defended the rear. As Anderson attacked, Wright’s corps was up, Humphreys had matured his plans, and the attack of Anderson hastened that of the enemy upon the Confederate rear. Anderson had some success, and Ewell received the assaults with resolute coolness, and at one moment pushed his fight to aggressive return, but the enemy, finding that there was no artillery with the Confederates, dashed their batteries into closer range, putting in artillery and infantry fire, front and flanks, until the Confederate rear was crushed to fragments. General Ewell surrendered; so also did General G. W. C. Lee with his division. General Kershaw advised such of his men as could to make their escape, and surrendered with his division. General Anderson got away with the greater part of B. R. Johnson’s division, and Pickett with six hundred men. Generals Corse and Hunton and others of Pickett’s men were captured. About two hundred of Kershaw’s division got away.
General R. S. Ewell and General R. H. Anderson are barely known in the retreat, but their stand and fight on that trying march were among the most soldier-like of the many noble deeds of the war.
While waiting near my rear, General Lee received information, through Colonel Venable, of his staff, as to the disaster at Sailor’s Creek. He drew Mahone’s division away, and took it back to find the field. General Mahone writes of the scenes that he witnessed as follows:
“As we were moving up in line of battle, General Lee riding with me and remonstrating about the severity of my note in respect to Colonel Marshall’s interference with my division the night before, up rode Colonel Venable, of General Lee’s staff, and wanted to know if he, General Lee, had received his message. General Lee replied ‘No,’ when Colonel Venable informed him that the enemy had captured the wagon-trains at Sailor’s Creek. General Lee exclaimed, ‘Where is Anderson? Where is Ewell? It is strange I can’t hear from them.’ Then turning to me, he said, ‘General Mahone, I have no other troops, will you take your division to Sailor’s Creek?’ and I promptly gave the order by the left flank, and off we were for Sailor’s Creek, where the disaster had occurred. General Lee rode with me, Colonel Venable a little in the rear. On reaching the south crest of the high ground at the crossing of the river road overlooking Sailor’s Creek, the disaster which had overtaken our army was in full view, and the scene beggars description,—hurrying teamsters with their teams and dangling traces (no wagons), retreating infantry without guns, many without hats, a harmless mob, with the massive columns of the enemy moving orderly on. At this spectacle General Lee straightened himself in his saddle, and, looking more the soldier than ever, exclaimed, as if talking to himself, ‘My God! has the army dissolved?’ As quickly as I could control my own voice I replied, ‘No, general, here are troops ready to do their duty;’ when, in a mellowed voice, he replied, ‘Yes, general, there are some true men left. Will you please keep those people back?’ As I was placing my division in position to ‘keep those people back,’ the retiring herd just referred to had crowded around General Lee while he sat on his horse with a Confederate battle-flag in his hand. I rode up and requested him to give me the flag, which he did.
“It was near dusk, and he wanted to know of me how to get away. I replied, ‘Let General Longstreet move by the river road to Farmville, and cross the river there, and I will go through the woods to the High Bridge (railroad bridge) and cross there.’ To this he assented. I asked him then, after crossing at the High Bridge, what I should do, and his reply was, to exercise my judgment. I wanted to know what should be done with the bridge after crossing it. He said, ‘Set fire to it,’ and I replied that the destruction of a span would as well retard the enemy as the destruction of the whole half mile of bridge, and asked him to call up Colonel Talcott, of the Engineers’ Regiment, and personally direct him in the matter, which he did.”
General Mahone withdrew at eleven o’clock at night through the wood, found the bridge, had the fragments of commands over before daylight, and crossed High Bridge. The parties called to fire the bridge failed to appear. He sent a brigade back to do the work, and had a sharp skirmish in checking the enemy long enough to start the fire, after which he withdrew as far as Cumberland Church and deployed for battle, Poague’s artillery on his right. General Rosser got up with the detachment sent to burn the bridge, and attacked. General Reed, seeing his approach, found a defensive position, and arranged the command to receive battle. General Mumford got up and deployed his troopers, dismounted, on Rosser’s left. Nothing daunted, General Reed received the attack, and in gallant fight made one or two counter-charges with his small cavalry force, but ere long he was mortally wounded, as was Colonel Washburn. Most of his cavalry officers and many of his infantry were killed or wounded, and the rest surrendered. Reed’s fight was as gallant and skilful as a soldier could make, and its noise in rear of Sailor’s Creek may have served to increase the confusion there. The result shows the work of these remnants of Confederate veterans as skilful and worthy of their old chief who fell at Yellow Tavern.
I heard nothing of the affair at Sailor’s Creek, nor from General Lee, until next morning. Our work at Rice’s Station was not very serious, but was continued until night, when we marched and crossed the Appomattox at Farmville without loss, some of Rosser’s and Mumford’s cavalry following. We crossed early in the morning and received two days’ rations,—the first regular issue since we left Richmond,—halted our wagons, made fires, got out cooking utensils, and were just ready to prepare a good breakfast. We had not heard of the disasters on the other route and the hasty retreat, and were looking for a little quiet to prepare breakfast, when General Lee rode up and said that the bridges had been fired before his cavalry crossed, that part of that command was cut off and lost, and that the troops should hurry on to position at Cumberland Church.
I reminded him that there were fords over which his cavalry could cross, and that they knew of or would surely find them. Everything except the food was ordered back to the wagons and dumped in.