It could be argued that this now-forgotten battle is the one that ended the Civil War….
After abandoning Petersburg, General Robert E Lee’s Army of Virginia was desperately in need of food and supplies. At first, Lee directed his troops to move towards the nearby town of Amelia Courthouse, where he thought there was a food depot. When they got there, however, they found it empty. After waiting a day for his straggling men to catch up, Lee now tried to move towards the railroad center at Danville VA, where he could receive supplies—but this route had already been blocked by General Ulysses S Grant’s forces. That left Lee with no alternative but to try to make his way to Lynchburg VA. To get there, he would have to cross Sailor’s Creek (also sometimes spelled as Saylor’s Creek) at the Danville Road.
As the Confederates marched, they became more and more disorganized. The column was led by General James Longstreet’s division, with General Richard Ewell behind him accompanying the baggage and supply wagons. As they marched, the slower baggage train fell behind, opening a gap between Longstreet and Ewell.
When Ewell crossed the Little Sailors Creek, he was blocked by Union forces under General Philip Sheridan. Behind Ewell, Confederate General Richard Anderson was also forced into a defensive line along Sailor’s Creek.
At about 5pm, a Federal unit commanded by General Horatio Wright opened fire with 20 cannons: Ewell, lacking artillery of his own, was unable to retaliate. As Ewell was pinned down by cannon fire, the Union General Wesley Merritt charged into Anderson’s position at Marshall’s Crossroads and succeeded in breaking the Confederate lines and routing Anderson’s troops. Among the cavalry officers involved in this fighting was General George Custer. With their horses exhausted by the previous fighting, some of the Federal cavalry were mounted upon Confederate mules taken from the captured baggage train. During the fighting at the Crossroads, General Custer’s brother Captain Thomas Custer managed to capture a Confederate regimental flag. In this pre-radio era, the only way commanders in the field could keep track of where their units were was by visually tracking their flags, so the regimental flag was heavily protected, and the act of capturing one was viewed as a spectacular feat of prowess. Tom Custer won a Medal of Honor for his actions here at Sailor’s Creek. Just four days earlier, moreover, he had won that same honor for capturing another regimental flag during the fighting at Namozine Church. He remains today one of the few people who have won two Congressional Medals of Honor—and the only one to have done so in less than a week—making him the most highly decorated soldier in the Civil War.
At about 6pm on April 6, Wright launched an assault on Ewell’s lines at Hillsman Farm which, after heavy fighting, was driven back. After regrouping, the Federals attacked again, and this time broke through. Ewell was unaware that Anderson had already been driven off the field by Merritt, and when he tried to withdraw he ran into Merritt’s troops and found himself surrounded. Most of Ewell’s 3,000 troops surrendered; six Confederate Generals, including Ewell himself, were captured in this action.
During this time, in a separate action, the Confederate General John Gordon was trying to move the remaining supply wagons across two bridges near the Lockett Farm. The bridges were unable to handle the traffic, however, and baggage carts were backed up for miles when cavalry troops under Union General Andrew Humphrey arrived at the scene and attacked. Gordon was unable to hold them off and withdrew, losing 1700 casualties (mostly captured) and 200 supply wagons.
It was a crushing defeat. In total, the Confederates had lost at least 8,000 men and ten Generals at Sailor’s Creek, most of them as prisoners. In addition, much of the supply train was lost. When General Robert E Lee was told about the fighting, he rode to the top of a nearby bluff to see for himself—and was shocked when the shattered remnants of Ewell and Anderson’s divisions began to straggle past him. “My God,” he exclaimed, “has the army dissolved?”
Only later did General Lee learn that his son Major General George Washington Custis Lee had been captured during the fighting.
Although the fighting at Sailor’s Creek was spread out over several square miles, only 800 acres have been designated a National Historic Landmark, and of this only 321 acres are preserved in the Sailors Creek Battlefield State Park. A series of walking trails cover the battlefield, and a driving tour takes visitors to nearby places which are not part of the actual park. The Hillsman Farm House, which was used as a hospital during the battle, is preserved as it was in 1865—bloodstains can still be seen on the wooden floors. The Lockett Farm House, the scene of heavy fighting, is also preserved.
Some photos from the battlefield: