The home I grew up in was just south of the town of Appomattox and I, like many of our neighbors, did not realize we was living on the edge of a Civil War battlefield. While working in my father’s garden, my brother and I would occasionally come across rusted, misshapen shards of metal that we would discard. We did not find out until years later that they were likely shrapnel, or some other debris, from artillery fired by the batteries commanded by Brigadier General Reuben Lindsay Walker on April 8th, 1865. Just a few years ago an intact cannonball was discovered in the small creek near my father’s property, just next to the high school’s baseball field.
A short walk, or even shorter drive, into town from his house will take you to Main Street, where the Battle of Appomattox Station had its beginning. Although the old depot is gone and the “new” train station is not on the same site the modern train tracks still run on the same bed as the old South Side Rail Road. That rail line is, in part, what led Lee’s army as far west to Appomattox, despite his best efforts to turn south to try and rendezvous with the Confederate forces on Lt. Gen. Joseph Johnston in North Carolina. It is also where Union cavalry began the fighting that would lead to Lee’s surrender the next day.
On the afternoon of April 8th Union cavalry under George Custer entered Appomattox County near the “city” of Pamplin in the county line, more or less following the railroad west. By the afternoon they had reached the center of the county near Appomattox Station and learned there were Confederate supply trains there. Custer wasted no time in attacking and seizing or destroying most of the railroad cars. The noise of Custer’s raid attracted the notice of Gen. Walker and his battery of over 100 artillery pieces, which were encamped about a mile to the north, near what is now the northern edge of the town. Walker’s cannons opened fire in the direction of the train station, largely firing blindly into and over the dense thickets of scrubby trees and undergrowth that separated his artillery from Custer’s cavalry.
Custer and his men made several assaults on Walker’s position but they were driven back by heavy fire. Custer and his men suffered relatively few casualties because of the dense trees that gave them ample cover. As the sun set, Custer made one last massive assault, and his forces succeeded in driving Walker and his men from their positions. Walker was able to escape with over 80 cannons, but Custer captured 1000 men, most of the Confederate wagon train that was with Walker’s artillery, and 25 of the cannons. The battle was a unique and unintended curiosity of the war; it was the only major engagement where no infantry units were involved, only cavalry on one side and artillery on the other.
Despite the dark conditions, a small group of Union cavalry led by Lt. Colonel Augustus Root of the 15th New York pursued the fleeing Confederates down the Lynchburg Richmond stage road. Root and his men captured several more fleeing Confederates and nearly captured Brigadier General William Pendleton, Lee’s chief of artillery. The Federals dashed though the village of Appomattox Court House with little resistance until they passed the courthouse building, where they ran into the pickets of the 2nd Corp of the Army of Northern Virginia. Lt. Colonel Root was shot off his horse near the remains of the old burned out jail, and with his death his troopers hastily retreated back toward the depot.
In terms of casualties it was a small engagement. Less than a hundred Union troopers were killed or wounded, and there are no records of the Confederate losses, apart from the thousand or so who were captured with the wagons and cannons. The battle led to Lee calling what would be his last council of war to decide his next move. All he could be certain of was there was a sizeable Union force a head of him, blocking him from moving to his next opportunity to resupply and move south. At that last council of war, Lee and his Corps commanders Longstreet, Gordon, and his nephew Fitzhugh Lee decided they should attack, gambling that it was indeed only a small force of cavalry ahead of them. That evening Lee also sent Grant a letter, responding to Grant’s earlier request that he surrender in order to avoid further unnecessary bloodshed. In his reply Lee said he did not think his situation was untenable and he would not surrender, but he asked Grant what terms he would offer in the event of a surrender.
At about the same time the Union cavalry commander, Maj. General Philip Sheridan, arrived at Appomattox Station to confer with Custer and his other subordinates. After assessing the situation, Sheridan sent a message to Grant that if infantry could reach Appomattox Depot by morning, that he could “finish the job” and force Lee to surrender. Union forces from the Army of the Potomac’s 5th Corps and the 24th and 25th Corps of the Army of the James began a forced night march to block Lee’s Army. Early on the morning of April 9th, Lee had Gordon’s 2nd Corps form a battle line west of Appomattox Court House, right next to the home of Wilmer McLean. As the sun rose on the morning of April 9th, the two armies were arrayed for their last contest against one another, a final battle that was set up by the Battle of Appomattox Station the day before.
Written by Joe Servis, Teacher at Appomattox County High School
