Battle of Sayler's Creek
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Sayler's Creek (also known as Sailor's Creek, Hillsman Farm, or Lockett Farm) was fought April 6, 1865, southwest of Petersburg, Virginia
, as part of the Appomattox Campaign
, in the final days of the American Civil War
.
Ulysses S. Grant
broke the Confederate
defenses at the Siege of Petersburg
, Gen. Robert E. Lee
's Army of Northern Virginia
evacuated Petersburg
and Richmond
on the night of April 2–3 and began a retreat in hopes of linking up with Gen. Joseph E. Johnston
's army in North Carolina
. As the Union Army
pursued, and engaged the Confederates in the Battle of Namozine Church
(April 3) and the Battle of Amelia Springs
(April 5), Lee discovered that his route to Danville
was blocked by fast-moving Union cavalry under Maj. Gen.
Philip Sheridan
. His only remaining option was to move west on a long march, without food, to Lynchburg
. But the Confederate Commissary General promised Lee that he would send 80,000 rations to Farmville
, 25 miles (40 km) to the west.
and Joseph B. Kershaw
, under the command of Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell
, fought the VI Corps along the creek. VI Corps attacked after an artillery bombardment. The Confederates counter attacked but were driven back at last. Union artillery under Maj. Andrew Cowan
deployed at the Hillsman Farm played a key role in their repulse. Soon after the Union cavalry cut through the right of the Confederate lines. Most Confederates surrendered, including generals Ewell, Lee, Kershaw, Seth M. Barton, James P. Simms, Meriwether Lewis Clark, Sr.
, Dudley M. Du Bose
, Eppa Hunton
, and Montgomery D. Corse. Col. Stapleton Crutchfield
was killed leading a detachment of artillery personnel formerly in the defenses of Richmond. Also present at this battle was Confederate Commander John Randolph Tucker and his naval squadron (300–400 strong), and so sailors were fighting at Sayler's Creek. Farther away, II Corps pushed back Maj. Gen. John Brown Gordon
, who had mistakenly been on a different road.
, "My God, has the army dissolved?" to which he replied, "No, General, here are troops ready to do their duty." Touched by the faithful duty of his men, Lee told Mahone, "Yes, there are still some true men left ... Will you please keep those people back?"
and the Commonwealth of Virginia
both use the more recent name "Sailor's Creek" for this battle, but the historic name was "Sayler's", presumably named for a local property owner. Many prominent Civil War historians (James M. McPherson
, Shelby Foote
, Bruce Catton
, Douglas Southall Freeman, etc.) use the historic spelling. Published in the early 1900s, the New International Encyclopedia
calls the battle "Sailor's Creek".
The Sayler's Creek Battlefield
was designated a National Historic Landmark
in 1985.
Petersburg, Virginia
Petersburg is an independent city in Virginia, United States located on the Appomattox River and south of the state capital city of Richmond. The city's population was 32,420 as of 2010, predominantly of African-American ethnicity...
, as part of the Appomattox Campaign
Appomattox Campaign
The Appomattox Campaign was a series of battles fought March 29 – April 9, 1865, in Virginia that culminated in the surrender of Confederate General Robert E...
, in the final days of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
.
Background
After Lt. Gen.Lieutenant General (United States)
In the United States Army, the United States Air Force and the United States Marine Corps, lieutenant general is a three-star general officer rank, with the pay grade of O-9. Lieutenant general ranks above major general and below general...
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
broke the Confederate
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
defenses at the Siege of Petersburg
Siege of Petersburg
The Richmond–Petersburg Campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865, during the American Civil War...
, Gen. Robert E. Lee
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....
's Army of Northern Virginia
Army of Northern Virginia
The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War, as well as the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most often arrayed against the Union Army of the Potomac...
evacuated Petersburg
Petersburg, Virginia
Petersburg is an independent city in Virginia, United States located on the Appomattox River and south of the state capital city of Richmond. The city's population was 32,420 as of 2010, predominantly of African-American ethnicity...
and Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
on the night of April 2–3 and began a retreat in hopes of linking up with Gen. Joseph E. Johnston
Joseph E. Johnston
Joseph Eggleston Johnston was a career U.S. Army officer, serving with distinction in the Mexican-American War and Seminole Wars, and was also one of the most senior general officers in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War...
's army in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
. As the Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
pursued, and engaged the Confederates in the Battle of Namozine Church
Battle of Namozine Church
The Battle of Namozine Church, Virginia was a minor engagement that occurred on April 3, 1865 during the Appomattox Campaign of the American Civil War. The battle was the first engagement between units of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia under the command of General Robert E...
(April 3) and the Battle of Amelia Springs
Battle of Amelia Springs
The Battle of Amelia Springs, Virginia was a minor engagement that occurred on April 5, 1865 during the Appomattox Campaign of the American Civil War...
(April 5), Lee discovered that his route to Danville
Danville, Virginia
Danville is an independent city in Virginia, United States, bounded by Pittsylvania County, Virginia and Caswell County, North Carolina. It was the last capital of the Confederate States of America. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Danville with Pittsylvania county for...
was blocked by fast-moving Union cavalry under Maj. Gen.
Major general (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...
Philip Sheridan
Philip Sheridan
Philip Henry Sheridan was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War. His career was noted for his rapid rise to major general and his close association with Lt. Gen. Ulysses S...
. His only remaining option was to move west on a long march, without food, to Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Lynchburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 75,568 as of 2010. Located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains along the banks of the James River, Lynchburg is known as the "City of Seven Hills" or "The Hill City." Lynchburg was the only major city in...
. But the Confederate Commissary General promised Lee that he would send 80,000 rations to Farmville
Farmville, Virginia
Farmville is a town in Prince Edward and Cumberland counties in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 6,845 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Prince Edward County....
, 25 miles (40 km) to the west.
Battle
On April 6 at Sayler's Creek, nearly one fourth of the retreating Confederate army was cut off by Sheridan's cavalry and elements of the II and VI Corps. Two Confederate divisions, led by Maj. Gens. Custis LeeGeorge Washington Custis Lee
George Washington Custis Lee , also known as Custis Lee, was the eldest son of Robert E. Lee and Mary Anna Custis Lee...
and Joseph B. Kershaw
Joseph B. Kershaw
Joseph Brevard Kershaw was a lawyer, judge, and a Confederate general in the American Civil War.-Early life:...
, under the command of Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell
Richard S. Ewell
Richard Stoddert Ewell was a career United States Army officer and a Confederate general during the American Civil War. He achieved fame as a senior commander under Stonewall Jackson and Robert E...
, fought the VI Corps along the creek. VI Corps attacked after an artillery bombardment. The Confederates counter attacked but were driven back at last. Union artillery under Maj. Andrew Cowan
Andrew Cowan (artillerist)
Andrew Cowan served as a Union artillerist in the American Civil War. He distinguished himself at the Battle of Gettysburg and the Battle of Sayler's Creek.-Pre-War:...
deployed at the Hillsman Farm played a key role in their repulse. Soon after the Union cavalry cut through the right of the Confederate lines. Most Confederates surrendered, including generals Ewell, Lee, Kershaw, Seth M. Barton, James P. Simms, Meriwether Lewis Clark, Sr.
Meriwether Lewis Clark, Sr.
Meriwether Lewis Clark, Sr. was an architect, civil engineer, politician, and a general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. He first served in the Trans-Mississippi Theater as the initial commander of the Ninth Division of the Missouri State Guard and later commanded a brigade...
, Dudley M. Du Bose
Dudley M. Du Bose
Dudley McIver Du Bose was a lawyer, soldier, and a U.S. Representative from Georgia.-Early life:Du Bose was born in Shelby County, Tennessee. He attended the University of Mississippi at Oxford, and graduated from the Lebanon Law School in 1856...
, Eppa Hunton
Eppa Hunton
Eppa Hunton II was a U.S. Representative and Senator from Virginia and a brigadier general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War.-Early years:...
, and Montgomery D. Corse. Col. Stapleton Crutchfield
Stapleton Crutchfield
Stapleton Crutchfield served as a Confederate artillerist in the American Civil War. He was closely associated with Stonewall Jackson until the latter's death. Crutchfield lost a leg in battle, removing him from service in the field...
was killed leading a detachment of artillery personnel formerly in the defenses of Richmond. Also present at this battle was Confederate Commander John Randolph Tucker and his naval squadron (300–400 strong), and so sailors were fighting at Sayler's Creek. Farther away, II Corps pushed back Maj. Gen. John Brown Gordon
John Brown Gordon
John Brown Gordon was one of Robert E. Lee's most trusted Confederate generals during the American Civil War. After the war, he was a strong opponent of Reconstruction and is thought by some to have been the titular leader of the Ku Klux Klan in Georgia during the late 1860s. A member of the...
, who had mistakenly been on a different road.
Aftermath
Upon seeing the survivors streaming along the road, Lee exclaimed in front of Maj. Gen. William MahoneWilliam Mahone
William Mahone was a civil engineer, teacher, soldier, railroad executive, and a member of the Virginia General Assembly and U.S. Congress. Small of stature, he was nicknamed "Little Billy"....
, "My God, has the army dissolved?" to which he replied, "No, General, here are troops ready to do their duty." Touched by the faithful duty of his men, Lee told Mahone, "Yes, there are still some true men left ... Will you please keep those people back?"
Naming the battle
The National Park ServiceNational Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
and the Commonwealth of Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
both use the more recent name "Sailor's Creek" for this battle, but the historic name was "Sayler's", presumably named for a local property owner. Many prominent Civil War historians (James M. McPherson
James M. McPherson
James M. McPherson is an American Civil War historian, and is the George Henry Davis '86 Professor Emeritus of United States History at Princeton University. He received the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Battle Cry of Freedom, his most famous book...
, Shelby Foote
Shelby Foote
Shelby Dade Foote, Jr. was an American historian and novelist who wrote The Civil War: A Narrative, a massive, three-volume history of the war. With geographic and cultural roots in the Mississippi Delta, Foote's life and writing paralleled the radical shift from the agrarian planter system of the...
, Bruce Catton
Bruce Catton
Charles Bruce Catton was an American historian and journalist, best known for his books on the American Civil War. Known as a narrative historian, Catton specialized in popular histories that emphasized colorful characters and historical vignettes, in addition to the basic facts, dates, and analyses...
, Douglas Southall Freeman, etc.) use the historic spelling. Published in the early 1900s, the New International Encyclopedia
New International Encyclopedia
The New International Encyclopedia was an American encyclopedia first published in 1902 by Dodd, Mead and Company. It descended from the International Cyclopaedia and was updated in 1906, 1914 and 1926.-History:...
calls the battle "Sailor's Creek".
The Sayler's Creek Battlefield
Sayler's Creek Battlefield
Sayler's Creek Battlefield near Farmville, Virginia was the site of the Battle of Sayler's Creek of the American Civil War. Robert E. Lee's army was retreating from the Richmond to Petersburg line. Here, on April 6, 1865, Union General Philip Sheridan cut off and beat back about a quarter of Lee's...
was designated a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
in 1985.
External links
- Animated history of the Siege of Petersburg and Surrender at Appomattox
- Battle of Sailor's Creek: Maps, histories, photos, and preservation news (CWPT)