Following the Appomattox Campaign

Using the Virginia Trail map, motorists will enjoy Lee's Retreat Driving Tour, which follows the route of his army from Petersburg to Appomattox Court House. While on the trail, drivers can set the radio to AM 1610 for battle details and descriptions. Also along the trail are the Virginia Historical Highway Markers guide, the routes of General Lee and General Grant can be followed from Richmond and Five Forks Battlefield in Petersburg, through Pamplin Park, Amelia Court House, Sailor's Creek, Cumberland Church, and High Bridge to the final battles of Appomattox.

 

Five Forks Battlefield

Five Forks Battlefield is the area where, late in the American Civil War, General Grant's troops broke the extended lines of General Lee's Confederate forces, cutting the last rail line supporting Petersburg, causing the Confederates to abandon that city, and in turn undermining the defense of Richmond.

 

Pamplin Historical Park

Pamplin Historical Park, located on the site of the April 2, 1865 "Breakthrough," the battle that ended the Petersburg Campaign and led to the evacuation of the Confederate capital at Richmond, the Park's 422 acres include four award-winning museums, four antebellum homes, living history venues, and shopping facilities.

 

Sailor's Creek Battlefield

Sailor's Creek Battlefield Historical State Park, is an historical site because on April 6, 1865 - the Black Thursday of the Confederacy - Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia lost 7,700 men, including eight generals, in the Battle of Little Sailor's Creek.

 

High Bridge State Park

High Bridge Trail State Park is a multi-use trail ideally suited for hiking, bicycling and horseback riding. Its centerpiece is the majestic High Bridge, which is more than 2,400 feet long and 160 feet above the Appomattox River.