Aug 14-15: The Cradle of The Civil War 4

I revisited the incredible Mariner’s Museum on Friday morning, to ensure I’d done it justice (Warning: non-Civil War/tech interested people will have to scan through yet another maritime museum photo essay… sorry), and drove out of Newport News around 11:00 with a heavy heart as, once again, I knew I was going to miss out on seeing many historical Civil War sites as well as many of those critical to the earlier War of Independence. But to have done Newport News justice, I’d have needed a week here.

I headed northwest on I-64 for Richmond, tuned into 96.3 WROV - The Rock Of Virginia, but—once again—was going to have to choose between stopping and spending time in museums and at various locations v reaching certain special locations AND covering the ground to at least view the general areas these armies moved through. So, Richmond was also placed on my ‘Next Time’ list, right below Newport News. Richmond has always fascinated me through having been the Confederate capital during the war and being so close to the Union capital, which was, of course, Washington D.C.

So, I took to the network of freeways and tollways that enables truckers and people like me to circumvent Richmond, and headed west on US-360 for the villages of Amelia and Appomattox and to see what I could of the ‘Appomattox Campaign’.

Amelia County was a central area for Virginia's enslaved population, highlighting the region's importance to the Confederate economy and social structure. Following the fall of Richmond and Petersburg after a 10-month siege by the Northerners, Amelia Court House was the chosen location for the Army of Northern Virginia (the Confederate army) to reunite and resupply. Amelia's location was strategic because it lay along Lee's intended line of retreat to the west and south, making it a critical point for consolidating his scattered forces. General Lee had ordered a supply train full of provisions to meet his troops at Farmville, near Amelia. This was a crucial step in his plan to retreat south and link up with other Confederate forces, however the train was raided by the Yankees (Union army) and never arrived.

Farmville became a focal point during Lee's Retreat (a) due to its railroad and supply depots and its strategic location, (b) the critical High Bridge crossing the Appomattox River, (at the time one of the longest in the world and a crucial natural barrier in Lee's escape route), and (c) the desperate struggle for supplies and a chance to escape the closing Union net. Lee had hoped to secure much-needed provisions for his exhausted and hungry troops before continuing westward to join forces with General Johnston. Lee's failure to secure and destroy the bridge at Farmville significantly hampered his ability to prolong the fight and contributed to his eventual surrender just days later.

Note that the words ‘Court House’ often figure in this era in the name of a Virginian town. Thus, both Amelia and Appomattox were officially at that time designated Amelia Court House and Appomattox Court House.

March 29, 1865, is generally considered to have been the beginning of the Appomattox Campaign. On that date, Grant opened his spring offensive against Lee’s army by ordering Major General Philip Sheridan’s cavalry (freshly returned from the Shenandoah Valley) and Major General G. K. Warren’s 5th Corps to attempt to turn Lee’s right flank at the Battle of Lewis’s Farm. Two days later the action resumed at the Battle of White Oak Road and the Battle of Dinwiddie Court House as Lee attempted to shore up his right wing to halt the federal flanking manoeuver. On April 1, Sheridan and Warren continued their offensive, with another major victory over Confederate forces at the Battle of Five Forks. Losing that strategic crossroads further threatened Lee’s already limited supply lines.

Encouraged by these Union victories, Grant ordered a general assault on Confederate entrenchments, and Lee realised he could no longer hold the Yankees back. He advised Confederate President Jefferson Davis to prepare to leave Richmond. As Lee abandoned his defenses around Richmond, three minor engagements took place during the next three days – one of them at Amelia Springs.

Two days later, another cavalry engagement erupted north of Amelia Springs. Three brigades of Confederate cavalry counterattacked Union cavalry about three miles north of Amelia Springs. One of the Union cavalry brigades was returning from a raid on the Confederates’ supply train near Painesville, just to the north. The two cavalry forces fought a running battle through Amelia Springs almost to Jetersville (which I also drove through), six miles southwest of Amelia Court House, where Lee planned to concentrate his army. The initial phase of the battle was inconclusive until Union reinforcements arrived, prompting the Confederates to withdraw back to Amelia Springs. Later that night and during the morning of April 6, Union forces fought another minor and inconclusive battle against the Confederate rearguard. The Battle of Amelia Springs accomplished little other than to force Lee’s army to detour around Jetersville on its journey to Amelia Court House.

After realising he wasn’t going to be able to provision his men at Farmville, General Lee moved to cross the Appomattox River at High Bridge, 4.5 miles north, and continue his westward retreat. On April 6, 1865, just three days before the surrender at Appomattox Court House, nearly a quarter of Lee’s army—more than 7,700 men—were killed, wounded or captured at the battle of Saylor’s Creek (also known as Sailor’s Creek). Then, on April 7, they fought to destroy the bridge to stop Union forces from following them. Union troops, however, managed to save the bridge and crossed the river, continuing their relentless pursuit of Lee. This was a critical failure for the Confederates and sealed their fate in Virginia.

I could not stop to drive into High Bridge to inspect the area. I’ve added a borrowed image from the interweb to show what the bridge was like when built in 1854 by the Southside Railroad. It was over 2,400 ft long, double-decked (a wagon roadway below), stood 125 feet above the Appomattox River, and rested on 21 hollow brick pillars. If I’d gone in there, I’d have seen a steel structure erected in 1914 adjacent to the pillars of the original and now part of a Rail Trail.

Anyway, after skirting Richmond, I got off the freeway in time to drive through and around the small town of Amelia and knew I was on the right track as soon as I saw the first roadside marker denoting “Lee’s Retreat”. This label refers generally to the Confederate Army's withdrawal from Gettysburg in July 1863. Following his defeat there, General Lee recognised the need to withdraw his army from Pennsylvania and embarked upon the subsequent southward retreat back through Maryland into Virginia, described above. The route march was marked by difficult conditions, including heavy rain and the need to transport a large number of wounded soldiers. These logistical challenges can scarcely be imagined. Can you imagine the number of horses, wagons, and the sheer amount of feed needed to transport these casualties? This retreat would conclude with the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. Much of Lee’s route can be followed to Appomattox.

The original village of Appomattox Court House (which later burnt down) has been reconstructed on the exact location. The Court House is now an excellent Visitor Centre and museum with interpretive displays and a theatre with regular screenings of an explanatory video. It is quite an emotional experience to wander around that village and enter the private household of Wilmer McLean that was ‘borrowed’ that day to facilitate the meeting between the two generals and the signing of the surrender documents. President Lincoln had ordered that the Confederate troops were not to be humiliated and some of the terms of surrender that General Grant presented to General Lee included that the Confederate troops would hand in their weapons (but that officers and others who had arms they owned—which many did—could retain them), that all troops would be paroled to return to their homes and not imprisoned, that food and medical aid would be made available immediately, and—after a request from Lee—that officers and troops who owned horses and mules could keep them. The 4-year War Between the States was over; the nation (largely) rejoiced.

Two days later an assassin shot President Lincoln in the head.

I looked around some of the surrounding areas that had seen combat and had been kept in much the same floral condition as existed at the time, so it was easy to imagine the troop movements over the open fields and through the wooded portions and the skirmishes that developed.

I finally had to leave, and headed north on US-29, bypassing Lynchburg (and more Civil War learning), and onto US-60 up onto the Blue Ridge. This enabled me to access a short, middle portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway for a 1½-hr winding road trip of about 65 miles to Waynesboro, my destination for the evening. The Blue Ridge Parkway is a scenic road that connects—if you’re travelling south-to-north—the Great Smoky Mountains National Park down in Tennessee to Shenandoah National Park in Virginia.

I caught enticing glimpses of many terrific views but only stopped to investigate one. I figured I would see many more tomorrow when I traversed the full length of the northern portion of the parkway through the Shenandoah National Park, a 105-mile twisting jaunt along the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains, called the Skyline Drive. In my view, a visitor could not possibly come to these parts without doing these two drives (and in the Fall would be even better).

Having left Appomattox, my one stop on the Blue Ridge Parkway might easily have been my last. I stopped to view a lookout and as I trudged along a grass trail leading up to it, I wondered what the hissy rattle was that I could hear. I looked down and saw what I now think was a timber rattlesnake, one of two venomous species in Shenandoah National Park. I expleted appropriately, jumped about 3 feet in the air and 6 feet laterally, and took a photo of the beast for Google Images. It was a very relieved explorer who drove down off the Blue Ridge that evening and into Waynesboro.もっと詳しく