Appomattox Campaign

Appomattox Campaign. Bringing Lee to Bay. , At this location, Confederate Gen. R. Lindsay Walker formed a crescent of artillery that repulsed three charges of Union Gen. George Custer's cavalry division. Around 8 p.m. on April 8, 1865, Custer's fourth charge broke through, blocking the Richmond-Lynchburg Stage Road, Gen. Robert E. Lee's line of retreat. Just seven days after the fall of Petersburg, Lee surrendered his army., Lee had initially hoped to keep fighting by linking his troops with Gen. Joseph Johnston's army in North Carolina. On April 4, Lee moved from Richmond, Petersburg, and Bermuda Hundred to concentrate some 35 miles west at Amelia Court House to move south on the Richmond-Danville Railroad to North Carolina. However on April 5, Gen. Ulysses S. New Store Grant placed men south of Lee at Jetersville to block that move. The next day, Grant captured a portion of Lee's army at the Battle of Sailor's Creek. On the 7th, Grant's cavalry drove Lee's army north out of Farmville and across the Appomattox River. Lee's men made a stubborn stand in the vicinity of Cumberland Church, then started a night march heading for Appomattox Station, about a mile south of this location, setting up the surrender events., To follow in their footsteps and to discover more stories, stop by the American Civil War Museum, the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park Visitor Center, or any local visitor center to pick up a Lee's Retreat map-guide. Follow Civil War Trails and create some history of your own!