Bitter Bitter Tears

The Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia fell to Union control April 3^rd 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 1^st 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 3^rd 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 5^th 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.

A National Battlefield

The Petersburg Military Park was designated a National Battlefield on August 24th 1962.

The Petersburg National Battlefield is central to Petersburg, Virginia, but also includes parts of Dinwiddie County, Hopewell and Prince George Counties.  Sites include the Crater, and the Battle of Five Forks which is sometimes called the “Waterloo of the Confederacy”.  The battlefield also takes care of the 9 acre Poplar Grove National Cemetery.

This is a site worth looking at for more about The Petersburg Battlefields

The Road To The End

The day before the Confederate loss at the Battle of Five Forks, on March 31st 1865 the Battle of White Oak road was fought.

Confederate General Robert E Lee moved his reinforcements March 30th 1865 to cover a Union movement on his right flank. Confederate Major WHF Rooney Lee’s cavalry moved to Five Forks, and Major General George Pickett’s division to Bermuda Hundred. The V Corps under Union Major General Gouverneur K Warren entrenched along the Boydton Plank Road, and Major General Romeyn B Ayres moved toward White Oak Road. On March 31st 1865 Warren moved his Corps on the Confederates entrenched along the White Oak Road. The plan being to cut Confederate communications with Pickett. A counterattack by Confederate Major General Bushrod Johnson slowed up the Union advance, however Warren’s men pulled it together and by the end of the day, the Union held the road.

Confederate loss were about 750, Union about 1,900.

Muddy Roads Again

The Battle of Dinwiddie Court House was fought on March 31st 1865 as part of the Appomattox Campaign.

Major General Philip H Sheridan on March 29th 1865 with his Cavalry and the Second and Fifth Corps started a march to out flank General Robert E Lee’s defenses at Petersburg. Their advance was slowed by muddy roads.

On March 31st 1865 the Confederate Cavalry of Major General W H Fitzhugh Rooney Lee and Infantry of Major General George Pickett connected with the Union vanguard to the north of Dinwiddie Court House. Driving the Union troops back, they formed a tight line around the village. Union reinforcements coming from the east caused Pickett to withdraw his soldiers, and set up a new line at the junction of Five Forks, which Lee ordered him to hold at all cost.

Five Forks

General George Pickett was told to “Hold Five Fork at all hazards”, but on April 1st 1865 the Union had other ideas.

General Philip H Sheridan had moved his Federal troops forward on March 31st 1865, but the Confederates had managed to halt his progress. Sheridan’s focus was a road intersection known as Five Forks that was a pivotal point on Robert E Lee’s supply line. Lee ordered General Pickett to hold that cross road at all cost.

On April 1st Sheridan’s men supported by General Gouverneur K Warren’s 5th Corps attacked the Confederate’s with about 20,000, crushing Pickett’s 10,000. While the Union lost only about 1,000 men, there were 5,000 Confederates killed, wounded, or captured. During the battle a long standing disagreement between Sheridan and Warren came to a head and Sheridan had Warren removed from his command with General Ulysses S Grant’s approval. [Warren was cleared of any wrong doing in 1882.] With the vital intersection in Union hands and Lee’s supply lines were cut forcing the Rebel’s to evacuate Petersburg ending the ten month long siege.

More reading
Five Forks: Waterloo of the Confederacy

Battle of Five Forks

Lion of Little Round Top

He was known as the Lion of Little Round Top. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain died February 23, 1914.

Joshua Chamberlain was born September 8, 1828, in Brewer, Maine. The oldest of five children born to Joshua and Sarah (Dupee) Chamberlain. He attended Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, where he met his future wife Fannie Adams. After graduating in 1852 he studied at the Bangor Theological Seminary. Three years latter Chamberlain excepted a job at his old college, married and settled into a normal life.

In 1861 when the southern states began to succeed Chamberlain; who felt strongly about the Union cause, volunteered his services to the state. Although he had no military experience he was given the rank of Lieutenant Colonel of the 20th Maine Infantry. The 20th was part of the “Light Brigade” of the 5th Corps of the Army of the Potomac. Although perhaps best known for the Bayonet charge on Little Round Top on the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, Chamberlain and the 20th saw action at many crucial battles, Fredericksburg, Wilderness, Cold Harbor, etc. He was seriously wounded during an assault outside of Petersburg, Virginia. The surgeon at the field hospital pronounced Chamberlain’s wound to be mortal. General Ulysses S Grant had him promoted to Brigadier General two days latter. Joshua recovered and rejoined the army in April of 65, where he led his troop during the Battle of Five Forks which ended the hold of the Confederates on Petersburg. General Joshua Chamberlain accepted the formal surrender of arms of the Army of Northern Virginia on April 12, 1865 at Appomattox Court House.

After the war Chamberlain returned to his home in Maine. He was elected to Governor of the State of Maine in 1866. In 1871 he became the President of Bowdoin College, however in 1883 he resigned do to health reasons related to old war wounds. He spent a great deal of time in writing and helping other veterans. Chamberlain was honored by Congress in 1893 with the Congressional Medal of Honor, for his service at Gettysburg. From 1900 until his death on February 24, 1914 he was the Surveyor of the Port of Maine in Portland, Maine. He is buried in the Pine Grove Cemetery in Brunswick, Maine.