The Worst of War

The Worst of War. "Apple Jack Raid".

"Scores of men left the ranks, and seizing brands from the burning house, fired every building in sight.... For this barbarism there was no real excuse, unless exasperation and the innate depravity of mankind is one.... If this is a raid, deliver me from going on another." , , Union Gen. Charles Wainwright

, In early December 1864, Confederate officers met in Valley View, the house that stands before you, to discuss a serious Union threat to the Weddon Railroad, the railbed of which is just to your west, or left. This railway was one of the few supply lines left open to Gen. Robert E. Lee's men, besieged around Petersburg and Richmond., The Union troops destroyed about 16 miles of track in the raid detailed at right, and headed back to Petersburg on December 10., Discipline broke down during the retreat in what would become known as the notorious "Apple Jack Raid." U.S. soldiers became very drunk from looted apple moonshine. Captain Amos Judson of the 83rd Pennsylvania wrote that "Almost every man … filled his canteen and coffee pot [with apple jack], and by midnight we had a drunken brigade.", The inebriated troops pillaged wantonly, and raped some white and black women. The destruction only stopped when darkness and a freezing rain set in., Incensed civilian vigilantes and Confederate troopers began to hunt down and execute Union stragglers. Some soldiers disappeared and were never seen again., The Apple Jack Raid shows how bitter the conflict had become since the naive days of 1861, when both sides believed the conflict would be a bloodless, three-month affair., "Apple Jack Raid" , December 7-12, 1864 , ❶ December 7, 1864 , 22,000 Union infantry (V Corps and a division of II Corps) with 4,200 cavalry, under the command of Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren, move south from Petersburg over the Jerusalem Plank Road., ❷ December 7-8, evening , U.S. troops bivouac around Sussex Court House., ❸ December 8 , The Federals strike the Weldon Railroad south of Stony Creek and begin destroying rails and cross ties. The night of December 8-9, troops suffer as bitter cold moves in with snow and sleet., ❹ December 8 , Confederate Gen. A.P. Hill moves south from Dinwiddie Court House to intercept Warren's column., ❺ December 8 , Gen. R.E. Lee requests reinforcements from North Carolina to be concentrated at Hicksford. Gen. Wade Hampton eventually joined Col. John J. Garnett's infantry and is assigned to the overall defense., ❻ December 9 , After a brief action at Belfield, Gen. Warren is unwilling to sustain losses necessary to force a crossing of the Meherrin River and orders his troops to return to Petersburg., ❼ December 10 , Gen. A.P. Hill's column reaches Jarratt Station but misses Warren as he returns through Sussex Court House. U.S. discipline breaks down as troops drunk on apple jack pillage and burn homes., ❽ December 11 , Warren recrosses Nottoway River north of Sussex Court House and returns to his lines.