Robertson House Fight
Last Cavalry Clash at Appomattox
| | Lee's Retreat | |
After Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's forces broke through Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's lines at Petersburg on April 2, 1865, Lee ordered the evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond. The Army of Northern Virginia retreated west on several roads, with Grant in pursuit. Lee planned to turn south and join Gen. Joseph E. Johnston in North Carolina, but Grant, closely pursuing the Confederate army, kept part of the Federal force south of Lee to thwart his plans. On April 9, surrounded at Appomattox Court House, Lee surrendered.
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The last cavalry clash of the war in Virginia occurred here on the morning of April 9, 1865, around the 1842 brick house of the widow Elizabeth S. Robertson, where casualties were treated afterward. Confederate Gens. Thomas L. Rosser's and Thomas T. Munford's cavalry divisions (2,400 men) escaped the Federal noose closing around Gen. Robert E. Lee's army near Appomattox Court House. Riding two miles west, they trotted onto the Richmond-Lynchburg Stage Road a short distance to your right.
Federal cavalry had observed them and charged as the Confederates gained the road at about 11 A.M. Union Gen. Henry E. Davies's brigade (1st New Jersey, 10th New York, and 5th Pennsylvania Cavalry) briefly drove the 1st and 2nd Virginia Cavalry west but were soon repulsed. Union Col. Samuel Young's brigade (4th, 8th, 16th, and 21st Pennsylvania Cavalry) launched a second charge, but the 1st Maryland Cavalry (CSA) and the rest of Col. William Wooldridge's brigade with 500 men of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Virginia Cavalry pushed the Federals to the Robertson House. Some of the troopers fired from the windows, forcing back the Confederates as Union Gen. Ranald S. Mackenzie arrived with reinforcements. At about noon, before another Federal attack could be made, news came that Lee and Gen. Ulysses S. Grant had declared a truce to discuss Lee's surrender. Federal officers rode out under a white flag and informed the Confederate commanders. Munford, however, opted not to surrender and withdrew his division to Lynchburg, where he disbanded it.
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Robertson House, demolished 1990s Courtesy Appomattox Court House National Historical Park
Gen. Thomas T. Munford www.findagrave.com
Gen. Henry E. Davies Brian Pohanka Collection
Col. Samuel Young Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States
Erected by Virginia
this page online
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: War, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the Virginia Civil War Trails series list. A significant historical date for this entry is April 9, 1865.
Location. 37° 21.89′ N, 78° 50.548′ W. Marker is in Appomattox, Virginia, in Appomattox County. It can be reached from Oakville Road (Virginia Route 26) north of Richmond Highway (U.S. 460), on the right when traveling south. Marker is located at a pull off on the service road south of Walmart. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 505 Oakville Road, Appomattox VA 24522, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the Piedmont and in Central Virginia. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Upper South. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least
Other markers no longer nearby. Carver-Price School (was approx. 0.8 miles away but has been replaced with another marker now near it); a different marker also named Winonah Camp / Mozella Price Home (was approx. 0.8 miles away but has been replaced with another marker now near it); Custer's Third Brigade (was approx. 0.8 miles away but has been permanently removed).
Credits. This page was last revised on March 24, 2021. It was originally submitted on March 24, 2021, by Bradley Owen of Morgantown, West Virginia. This page has been viewed 1,008 times since then and 59 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on March 24, 2021, by Bradley Owen of Morgantown, West Virginia. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.
Editor’s want-list for this marker. Wide shot of marker and its surroundings. • Can you help?
