Petersburg, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)

Campbell's Bridge

Vital Crossing

— Lee's Retreat —

Campbell's Bridge Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Craig Swain, November 22, 2008

1. Campbell's Bridge Marker

Inscription. When General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia began its retreat from Petersburg and Richmond on the evening of April 2, 1865, part of the army crossed the Appomattox River at Campbell's Bridge here. Other columns crossed the river on three nearby bridges beginning about 8 p.m. Gen. James Longstreet, with whom Lee rode, crossed just west of here on the Battersea pontoon bridge and passed through Ettricks (now Ettrick). Gen. John B. Gordon led troops from the Petersburg defenses across the Pocahontas Bridge and the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad Bridge. Lee ordered the bridges destroyed after all had crossed. Union Col. Charles Walcott, 61st Massachusetts Infantry, noted that "On reaching Campbell's Bridge [after dawn] it was found to be burning very furiously. ... In spite of every exertion on the part of General [Charles H.T.] Collis and my officers and men to extinguish the flames, in which some of my men were seriously burned, the bridge fell in about 10 minutes after reaching it."

After Lee crossed the river, he told an officer, "It has happened as I told them it would, at Richmond. The line has been stretched

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until it has broken." The several columns soon converged near Goode's Bridge, where most crossed into Amelia County to continue the march west. The units that had been at Five Forks, however, remained south of the Appomattox River.

(Sidebar)
On the hill across the river is the village of Ettrick, home during the war to many employees of the cotton and flour mills that surrounded Campbell's Bridge. The Ettrick Manufacturing Company, Battersea Mills, and Matoaca Manufacturing Company produced fabric for Confederate uniforms. The Georgia Confederate hospital was located in a grove nearby. In March 1865, a railroad spur from Dunlop's station, to the north on the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad, was completed into Ettrick. A quartermaster center there transferred supplies over the pontoon bridge to the Petersburg lines.

In April 1865, members of the 1st Maine Cavalry and a local woman named Anna E. Trueman opened the "Ettricks (sic) Free School" for village residents. The school was held in the Methodist church for eight weeks.

(captions)
When Lee's Army of Northern Virginia evacuated Richmond and Petersburg on April 3, 1865, it took the routes west indicated in red. Lee himself followed the solid red route. The Union Army of the Potomac, under Grant and Meade, took the roads indicated in blue.

Ettrick mills from Campbell's Bridge, 1865 - Courtesy Library of Congress

Erected by Virginia

Retreat Route Map image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Craig Swain, November 22, 2008

2. Retreat Route Map

Civil War Trails.

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 2, 1865.

Location. 37° 13.927′ N, 77° 25.019′ W. Marker is in Petersburg, Virginia. It is on Fleet Street (State Highway 36) 0.1 miles north of Grove Avenue, on the right when traveling north. Located in the Appomattox River Trail parking lot. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Petersburg VA 23803, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is 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 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Appomattox River Heritage Trail (here, next

Photographed by Craig Swain, November 22, 2008

3. Campbell's Bridge Marker

to this marker); Silk Mill (within shouting distance of this marker); Shaping Of The Town (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Railroad Crossing Over The Appomattox River (about 300 feet away); Simms Hall (about 300 feet away); Local Workforce At The Mills (about 400 feet away); The Beginning of Ettrick (about 400 feet away); The History of Virginia State University (about 400 feet away).

Wartime Photo of Ettrick and the Mills image. Click for full size.

4. Wartime Photo of Ettrick and the Mills

(Civil War photographs, 1861-1865 / compiled by Hirst D. Milhollen and Donald H. Mugridge, Washington, D.C. : Library of Congress, 1977. No. 0447, Call number: LC-B817- 7113[P&P])

Petersburg Southside Millrace image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Craig Swain, November 22, 2008

5. Petersburg Southside Millrace

Bridge Ruins image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Craig Swain, November 22, 2008

6. Bridge Ruins

Seaboard Air Line Railway and date from around 1890.

Photographed by Craig Swain, November 22, 2008

7. Ettrick

Looking over the modern Appomattox River bridge, the town of Ettrick and the mills in the photo were spread across the hill on the north side of the river. Upstream, to the left, was Merchant's Island, used as a prisoner of war camp for a time during the war.

Petersburg from the North Bank image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Craig Swain, November 22, 2008

8. Petersburg from the North Bank

Looking back across the river toward the marker location. Note the bridge piers continue into town.

Appomattox River at Campbell's Bridge (downriver). image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Bernard Fisher, May 31, 2009

9. Appomattox River at Campbell's Bridge (downriver).

Appomattox River at Campbell's Bridge (upriver). image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Bernard Fisher, May 31, 2009

10. Appomattox River at Campbell's Bridge (upriver).

Photographed by Mike McKeown, April 26, 2025

11. Campbell's Bridge Marker

Credits. This page was last revised on April 30, 2025. It was originally submitted on December 21, 2008, by Craig Swain of Leesburg, Virginia. This page has been viewed 5,433 times since then and 273 times this year. Last updated on April 29, 2025, by Mike McKeown of Baltimore, Maryland. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. submitted on December 21, 2008, by Craig Swain of Leesburg, Virginia. 9, 10. submitted on June 5, 2009, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia. 11. submitted on April 29, 2025, by Mike McKeown of Baltimore, Maryland. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.