The
Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia fell to Union control April 3rd
1865.
Union
General Ulysses S Grant had been working toward a takeover of the Confederate
capital of Richmond, Virginia for nearly ten months. On April 1st 1865 Grant crushed
Confederate Robert E Lee’s line at Five Forks, and Grant kept up the pressure
the next day all along the Confederate’s Petersburg line. Lee’s line collapsed. That same night the Confederate government in
Richmond evacuated the city leaving on the last open railroad line, with the
army leaving right behind them. As the
Confederate soldiers left, they set fire to the armory, bridges and warehouse,
a fire that burned out of control and spread through the city.
On the
morning of April 3rd 1865 the mayor and some other elite citizens
surrendered Richmond, and Union troops entered the capital city. The Union soldiers fought and put out the
fires, but not before it burned about 10% of the city. Mary Fontaine a resident of Richmond,
Virginia wrote that she "saw them unfurl a tiny flag, and I sank on my
knees, and the bitter, bitter tears came in a torrent." Among the first Union troops to enter the
city were the black troops of the 5th Massachusetts Cavalry, many of
the city’s residents considered this proof that their world was over.
President
Abraham Lincoln toured the city just a few days later with his son Tad.
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