Amelia Springs

On April 5, 1865, forces from the Union Army, drawing on the Army of the Shenandoah, the Army of the Potomac, and the Army of the James, clashed with the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia near Amelia Springs, Virginia, an episode within the broader Appomattox Campaign of the Civil War. A second clash serving as a rear guard action erupted at the same spot that night and carried into the morning of April 6, 1865, as Union forces chased Confederate troops, both the Army of Northern Virginia and Richmond's local defense units, westward in the aftermath of Petersburg and Richmond's collapse. That collapse had come at the Third Battle of Petersburg, also called the Breakthrough at Petersburg, on April 2, 1865. These clashes unfolded just before the Battle of Sailor's Creek, sometimes rendered "Sayler's Creek," on April 6, 1865, which stands as the final major clash between Grant's Union forces, with Ulysses S. Grant serving as General-in-Chief, and Lee's Confederate army before its surrender at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, on April 9, 1865.

The fighting on April 5 began when Confederate horsemen under Brig. Gen. Mart

Background

For nearly ten months, the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign, also called the Siege of Petersburg, forced Grant into a grinding contest of trenches and attrition. Rather than seek a decisive blow, the Union commander sought to exhaust the smaller Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, choke off its supplies and supply routes into Petersburg and Richmond, and stretch its defenses past the point of collapse. The Battle of Hatcher's Run, fought February 5 through 7, 1865, pushed the opposing lines another four miles outward, leaving Lee with almost nothing left in reserve to cover the expanded front. He recognized that he would soon have to pull some or all of his troops away from Richmond and Petersburg, seek provisions in Danville or perhaps Lynchburg, Virginia, and unite with Johnston, who was facing Sherman's army in North Carolina. Lee held out hope that a swift victory over Sherman might free the Confederates to turn and confront Grant before Union forces could combine.

Grant launched a new offensive on the night of March 28 into March 29, 1865, which produced fighting at Lewis's Farm, White Oak Road, and Dinwiddie Court House. That effort shattered Confederate defenses around Petersburg during the Battle of Five Forks on April 1 and the Third Battle of Petersburg on April 2. That same afternoon, a Union division led by Brigadier General Nelson A. Miles smashed the last Confederate defense of the South Side Railroad, severing what remained of that vital supply and escape route. Lee then abandoned both Petersburg and the Confederate capital at Richmond on the night of April 2 into April 3, setting his army on a retreat toward Danville with the goal of eventually joining Johnston, who was trying to slow Sherman's advance through North Carolina.

Confederate rear guard units bought the fleeing army crucial time on April 2, fighting fierce delaying actions at Forts Gregg and Whitworth, Fort Mahone, and Sutherland's Station. Their sacrifice allowed most of the Army of Northern Virginia, along with Jefferson Davis and his cabinet, to slip out of Petersburg and Richmond just ahead of the Union troops who entered both cities on April 3. Lee intended to bring together the four columns that had marched out of the two cities and to resupply them at Amelia Court House, some 39 miles southwest of Richmond. His men had left their lines with rations for only a single day, and he counted on a supply train, which he had ordered sent ahead to Amelia Court House, to be waiting when the army arrived there.

Although Lee's main force held roughly a day's advantage in the retreat, Union cavalry and infantry under Major General Philip Sheridan pressed hard on a parallel route to the south, keeping the Confederates pinned to the north. Federal horsemen began skirmishing with Lee's units almost as soon as the retreat began. On April 3, advance Union cavalry clashed with Confederate rear guard cavalry at Namozine Church, and the following day brought further fighting at Beaver Pond Creek, also called Tabernacle Church, and near Amelia Court House itself. By that point, Sheridan's men had already taken possession of Jetersville and Burkeville Junction.

Battles of Amelia Springs

Lee's plan hinged on locating provisions at Amelia Court House, Virginia, a town lying 39 miles (63 km) southwest of Richmond. When his army reached the spot on April 4, 1865, the anticipated supply train proved disappointing, holding nothing but ordnance, ammunition, caissons and harnesses. Precious hours slipped away as foraging parties went out searching for food. Certain historians attribute the holdup at Amelia Court House to a different culprit: the late arrival of a pontoon bridge required for crossing rivers swollen by rain. Whatever the cause, the delay gave Union forces the op

Aftermath

Losses on the Union side at Amelia Springs ranged from 116 to 158 men. No firm count exists for the Confederate side, though historians generally assume the number stayed lower, possibly under 100. Beyond these figures, the Confederates also lost the soldiers and teamsters who fell into enemy hands when the wagon train at Paineville came under attack.

Believing that Confederate forces still held their position together at Amelia Court House, Maj. Gen. Meade pushed the Army of the Potomac's infantry toward that location on the morning of April 6, 1865, even though Grant and Sheridan suspected otherwise. It quickly became clear that Lee's army had already begun shifting westward, prompting the Union troops to alter their line of march and press on with the chase. That same afternoon, roughly one-fifth of what remained of the Army of Northern Virginia, around 8,000 men, a group that included Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell along with eight other generals and represented about a sixth of those who had marched out of Richmond and Petersburg, became separated from the rest of the Confederate force during the fighting at the Battle of Sailor's Creek (also rendered "Battle of Sayler's Creek"). The majority of these men ended up as prisoners. Over the following three days, roughly five more minor clashes occurred as the Army of Northern Virginia steadily disintegrated under the pressure of encircling Union troops. This series of events culminated on April 9, 1865, when Lee surrendered his army to Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, a site situated about 90 miles (140 km) to the west of Richmond.