BY E. C. STROUSS.
Beginning of Our Last Campaign--Battle of Five Forks--On Picket Duty
on Old Hatcher's Run Battlefield--Jubilant Rebels--Enemy's Lines
Broken--Petersburg and Richmond Evacuated--In Pursuit of the
Enemy--Battle of Sailor's Creek--High Bridge--General Mott
Wounded--Lee's Army Breaking Up--Appomattox--Joy Over the
Surrender--On the Backward March--Camp at Burkesville Junction.
Before daylight on the morning of March 29th our men were astir getting
their breakfasts, packing up, and preparing for the march, which was to
terminate in the surrender of our old antagonists, the Army of Northern
Virginia, ten days later.
We moved out by the Vaughn road, across Hatcher's run, our corps resting
its right on the run, and its left in communication with the 5th corps.
General Ord's troops of the Army of the James occupied the entrenchments
vacated by our corps. We moved out toward the enemy: but in that country
of woods and swamps it took nearly the whole day to rectify the line and
get into position. It rained heavily all night of the 29th and all the
next day, rendering the roads impassable for artillery and wagons until
corduroyed. On the 30th our corps continued its advance, driving the
enemy inside his entrenchments along Hatcher's run from the Crow house
to the Boydton road, pressing close up against them, but not assaulting.
On the 31st the 5th corps under General Warren on our left was more or
less engaged with the enemy with varying success. Our first division
under General Miles, which joined Warren's right, engaged the enemy in a
brisk fight, drove them back and relieved the pressure on Warren. Our
division made an attempt to attack the enemy's entrenchments at the
Boydton road crossing of Hatcher's run, but the works were found to be
too strong, so the attack was countermanded.
Late in the afternoon of April 1st General Warren, assisted by
Sheridan's cavalry, succeeded in carrying the enemy's strong position at
Five Forks, about five miles to our left. The enemy under General
Pickett had 4,500 prisoners, 13 colors and 6 guns captured.
During the afternoon of this day the regiment with the brigade was
posted in the same field in which we had fought the enemy on the 27th of
October previous.
Just before dark a heavy detail of the 57th in charge of Captains
Strouss and Moore and First Lieut. R. I. Campbell was sent to the front
instructed to guard carefully against a night attack from the enemy.
Only a short distance in our front were the rebel pickets. They yelled
at us: "Yanks, do you know that General Sheridan is killed?" They were
answered: "You lie, you greybacks, you haven't lead enough to kill him."
They had no doubt been told that we had lost the battle at Five Forks,
and that Sheridan had been killed. At least they were very hilarious
during the fore part of the night. They also yelled to us asking:
"Yanks, have you got any whiskey over thar?" Being answered in the
negative, they yelled: "We have lots of it over har; come over and get
some." They evidently had plenty of whiskey or applejack, as some of
those we "gobbled" next morning were very weak in the legs.
On our side we were busy strengthening our picket pits, hurrying to get
the work finished before the rise of the moon. During the latter part of
the night there was more or less picket-firing along the lines, which we
kept up until daylight, when they also opened on us with several pieces
of artillery in a redoubt close by. One of their shells struck a large
pine tree near which Captain Moore was standing, and exploding, threw a
large piece of wood against him, injuring him painfully.
Long before daylight on the 2d began the terrible cannonade which
preceded the attack of the 6th and 9th corps on the rebel works near
Petersburg. This was miles away on our right, but the sound of the
cannon and the reverberation through the woods, together with our
anxiety as to how the battle would end, put us on an awful strain. In a
few hours, however, we learned that our troops had been victorious and
had broken and held the rebel lines in several places, and also that
Gen. A. P. Hill, one of Lee's corps commanders, had been killed. On our
part of the line we captured about one hundred of the enemy, also the
cannon in the redoubt in our front.
About 8 o'clock our corps took up the line of march via the Boydton
plank road, to near Petersburg. Here we formed line, about noon,
parallel with the Appomattox river, the right of our line joining the
left of the 6th corps. Here we were considerably annoyed by a battery of
the enemy on the opposite side of the river, until some of our
sharpshooters drove the cannoneers away from their guns.
Later in the day we took up a new line near a large brick house which
the day before had been the rebel General Mahone's headquarters.
A little before dark the enemy from one of their forts opened on us with
artillery, but did little damage, as we were sheltered by the brow of a
hill and most of their shots passed over us. An officer of our division,
while standing by a pump near the brick house mentioned above, was
killed by a cannon ball which passed through the pump. Several men of
the 57th who had gone to a spring in rear of our line for water were
also injured by fragments of shell.
The enemy evacuated Petersburg and Richmond during the night of the 2d
and morning of the 3d. Lee's army moved westward with the expectation of
reaching Lynchburg or Danville, Va.
Our corps took up the line of march in pursuit of the enemy about 8
o'clock a. m. on the 3d. We marched about twenty miles this day without
any fighting, although some of our infantry and cavalry had some brisk
skirmishes with the enemy's rear guard.
On the 4th we only marched about eight miles, but spent most of the day
in repairing bridges the enemy had destroyed and mending the roads,
which recent rains had put in very bad order. Our corps and the 6th were
on what was known as the River road; the 5th corps and the main body of
the cavalry were on a road further south, and Ord's army and the 9th
corps were following the line of the South Side railroad.
By the evening of the 5th nearly all of Lee's army was at Amelia Court
House. Lee had expected to find rations here for his army, which were
ordered to be left there on the 2d. But the authorities at Richmond,
anxious to get away, ordered the trains to go through to that place,
where the rations were dumped out, the cars loaded with the heads of the
various departments and their archives, and started south again, the
occupants being in great dread of capture by the Yankees. The
consequence was that Lee's army had to go hungry, as but little to eat
was to be found in the country through which they were marching.
The 5th corps had reached Jetersville--a station on the South Side
railroad--late in the afternoon of the 5th and began to entrench as they
were in front and across the path of the rebel army, only five miles
distant. Our corps joined the 5th corps about dark and the 6th corps a
few hours later.
On the morning of the 6th the three corps advanced toward Amelia Court
House, but it was soon found that Lee had during the night slipped
around our left flank, or, in other words, passed to the north of us and
continued his retreat. He was closely followed and there was some hot
fighting during the day. Our brigade's first encounter was on the
afternoon of the 6th at a place called Amelia Springs, about four miles
from Jetersville. We drove the enemy and captured some prisoners. The
road we followed on this day was strewn for miles with tents, camp
equipage, baggage, documents, etc., which the enemy threw from their
wagons to enable the half-starved mules to pull them through. Our
brigade had frequent skirmishes with the enemy's rear guard until near
dark, when we struck them at Sailor creek at Perkinson's mill, a few
miles from where the creek empties into the Appomattox. Here, assisted
by a portion of Miles' division, we succeeded in capturing several
hundred prisoners, thirteen flags, and three guns, and a large part of
the main trains of Lee's army, which were huddled together in a confused
mass at the bridge crossing the creek. Our regiment and the 17th Maine
dashed through the train and pursued the enemy across the creek, but
both regiments were recalled after dark. In this engagement the regiment
had none killed, and but seven men wounded. Among the wounded was
Lieutenant-Colonel Perkins. Our division commander, General Mott, was
wounded during the day's fighting.
On the same day, further to our left, or up the creek, the 6th corps and
Sheridan's cavalry had a battle with the enemy in which the latter met
with severe losses.
General Humphreys, in his book before quoted, says: "The total loss to
Lee's army today (the 6th) in its actions with the 6th corps and the
cavalry, and with the 2d corps, was not less than eight thousand men."
Among the prisoners were Generals Ewell, Kershaw, Custis Lee, and Dubose
of Ewell's command, and Generals Hunton and Corse, of Pickett's
division.
The 2d corps resumed the pursuit at half past five o'clock in the
morning of the 7th, keeping near to the river and taking the routes
which appeared to have been marched on by the largest bodies of
infantry, and came upon High Bridge just as the enemy had blown up the
redoubt that formed the bridge-head and had set fire to the railroad
bridge, and were trying to burn the wagon road bridge. The railroad
bridge was called High Bridge because built on piers about sixty feet
high, across the narrow river and the wide marshy low ground on the
north bank. This bridge was saved with the loss of four spans at the
north end, chiefly by the exertions of Colonel Livermore, of General
Humphreys' staff, whose party put out the fire, while the enemy's
skirmishers were fighting under their feet. It was a wooden, open deck
bridge. The wagon road bridge which the enemy tried to burn but failed,
was still smoking as we crossed it. Sixteen pieces of artillery which
were in the redoubts at either end of the railroad bridge fell into our
hands.
The divisions of Miles and De Trobriand (the latter now commanding
Mott's division) arrived at the Lynchburg stage road about 1 p. m., when
we suddenly came in contact with the enemy, who opened on us with a
heavy fire of artillery. Dispositions were at once made for an attack,
and a heavy skirmish line was pressed close up against the enemy to
develop their strength. From prisoners taken it was found that Lee's
whole army was present in strong position covering the stage and plank
roads to Lynchburg, which was entrenched sufficiently for cover, and had
artillery in place.
General Humphreys pressed against the rebel positions with his two
divisions, but found the enemy too strong to be dislodged with the
forces then under him. General Meade was notified of the state of
affairs, when it was found that no pontoon bridge was available at
Farmville, that the river was too deep for fording, and that it would be
night before a bridge could be built to enable the force on our left to
come to our assistance. So all we could do was to lie still and watch
the enemy.
By detention until night at this place, General Lee lost invaluable
time, which he could not regain by night marching, lost the supplies
awaiting him at Appomattox station, and gave time to Sheridan and his
cavalry, and General Ord with the 5th and 24th corps to post themselves
across his path at Appomattox Court House.
Lee continued his retreat some time during the night, and the 2d corps
started after him at 5:30 on the morning of the 8th. There was some
skirmishing during the day, but no hard fighting. The enemy was anxious
to get away, and thousands of their stragglers and deserters lined the
roads. Our regiment acted as flankers to the main column on the 8th,
moving on the left of it, about a quarter of a mile distant.
Correspondence pertaining to the surrender of the rebel army was already
passing between Grant and Lee; but of this we knew nothing at the time.
On the morning of the 9th we moved a few miles and then halted for
several hours and then moved on a short distance and halted within a few
rods of where General Meade had his headquarters, about noon. About 3
o'clock in the afternoon an ambulance bearing a flag of truce and in
which were seated some rebel officers, coming from the front, drove up
to General Meade's headquarters. The ambulance soon returned accompanied
by General Meade and his chief of staff, General Webb. They had been at
the front but a short time when we heard great cheering in that
direction, and also heard the music of the bands playing patriotic airs.
The cheering came nearer and nearer, and our men began to line both
sides of the road, when soon we saw the forms of Generals Meade and Webb
approaching, their horses at an easy gallop. General Webb was riding
ahead and shouting to the men: "Boys, your fighting is over; General Lee
has surrendered." General Meade, who had been sick for several days, was
waving his cap, but was so exhausted that he was scarcely able to
dismount.
Then for a while it seemed as if our army had suddenly become insane
with joy. Men pushed each other over, mounted a stump or fence and
crowed like roosters, laughed or wept for joy. It was hard to realize
that the men whom we had been fighting for nearly four years were no
longer our foes, and that the weary nights on picket duty in storm and
rain were ended.
According to the records of the War Department the number of officers
and enlisted men of Lee's army paroled on the 9th of April, 1865, was:
Officers, 2,862; enlisted men, 25,494; total, 28,356. Of the troops
surrendered only 8,000 were armed.
When the surrender took place our corps was near Clover Hill, about
three miles from Appomattox Court House. It remained there on the 10th
and on the 11th we moved to the rear and bivouacked for the night at a
place called New Store. Moving on the next day over very muddy roads and
in the rain, we halted for the night at Farmville. On the 13th, after a
hard march, we arrived at Burkesville Junction, where we went into camp
and remained there until May 2d. While at this place we heard the sad
news that President Lincoln had been assassinated at Ford's Theater in
Washington on the night of April 14th.
On the 28th we had the joyful news that the rebel army under General
Johnson had surrendered to Gen. W. T. Sherman. The most doubtful now
knew that the war was over.