Summary:
H. G. Wright, Maj.-Gen., commanded the 87th Pa. Infantry which was in the Army of
the Potomac. Wright reports on the capture of the Confederate army.
Colonel
Danville, Va.
April 29, 1865.
COL
I have the honor to submit the following report of the operations of this corps from the 3d instant, after the retreat of the rebel forces from Petersburg and Richmond, to the 9th instant, the date of the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia near Appomattox Court-House:
At daylight on the morning of the 3d of April, the artillery of the corps being in position ready to open fire and the troops prepared for the assault, in pursuance to orders from headquarters Army of the Potomac of the evening previous, the skirmish line was pushed forward and soon discovered that the city of Petersburg had been evacuated during the night and that the army of Gen. Lee was retreating. A communication received from the city authorities surrendering the place was forwarded to your headquarters, and the skirmish line halted. Soon after orders were received to pursue the enemy, and Mott's division, of the Second Corps, temporarily under my command, was at once put in motion by the River road, followed closely by this corps. The other two divisions of the Second Corps being in our front, with the trains which usually accompany the troops, our march for the day was necessarily a slow and short one, and we camped for the night about ten miles from Petersburg. The next morning the march was resumed, and at night we camped about two miles beyond Wintincomack Creek, near the place of Mr. Featherston. On the 5th the corps moved, at 3 a.m., toward Jetersville Station, on the Danville railroad, and went into position some time before dark about two miles from that point and on the right of the Fifth Corps and of the army. It had been reported that the enemy, who had concentrated at Amelia Court-House, were threatening an attack, and the latter part of the march was hurried in consequence, and the troops put in position in order of battle.
The next morning (the 6th) the corps was put in motion at 6 a.m., in conjunction with the rest of the army, toward Amelia Court-House, where it was supposed the enemy still was, with the intention of attacking him at that place. Without regard to roads the troops were moved across the country, but after proceedings some three miles information was received that the enemy had left during the night and was endeavoring to pass around our left. The corps was at once halted and this information sent to army headquarters. Orders were soon received for the corps to take the right of the army in the pursuit; but these orders were shortly after charged by instructions to move via Jetersville to the vicinity of Deatonsville, and take position on the left of the Second Corps and of the army. In obedience to these instructions the corps was promptly started. Following for a time the road from Jetersville, parallel to the railroad, and then turning square to the right, the road passing Deatonsville was reached at a point to the southward of that place. Here I found the Second Corps was engaged in skirmishing in advance of the road; and awaiting the arrival of the column the ground on the left of that corps was reconnoitered with a view to taking up that position, but finding the country to be a difficult one through which to advance, and hearing the cavalry heavily engaged some distance to the left, I moved on the arrival of the head of the column down the Burkeville road, perhaps a mile, and, turning sharp to the right, proceeded across the country toward a nearly parallel road on which the enemy was moving with troops and trains, and along which he had thrown up some slight breast-works. As soon as Seymour's division, which was leading, could be formed it was moved upon the road held by the enemy, which was carried after a slight resistance. This movement compelled a part of the enemy's force to move off by a branch road to the right, and in front of the Second Corps, which was rapidly coming up. The road being carried, the Third Division was wheeled to the left, with its left on the road, and Wheaton's Division, which had come up, having been rapidly formed on Seymour's let, the line was advanced down the road against a pretty sharp resistance for about two miles, when reaching Sailor's Creek, a marshy and difficult stream, it was found that the enemy had reformed his line on the opposite side, and that he had thrown up such breast-works at various points of his line as time permitted. Readjusting the lines somewhat, the First and Third Divisions keeping their previous formation of the Third on the right, the creek was crossed, and the attack made, the artillery, previously established imposition, opening with great effect upon the enemy, while the Second Division, still in rear, was hurried up to take part in the battle in case it should be needed, and at any rate to sustain the batteries which were without support. This division was rapidly brought forward at the double-quick by Brevet Maj.-Gen. Getty, and though not actually engaged performed an important part by its presence. The First and Third Divisions charged the enemy's position, carrying it handsomely, except at a point on our right of the road crossing the creek, where a column, said to be composed exclusively of the Marine Brigade and other troops which had held the lines of Richmond previous to the evacuation, made a countercharge upon that part of our lines in their front. I was never more astonished. These troops were surrounded-the First and Third Divisions of this corps were on either flank, my artillery and a fresh division in their front, and some three divisions of Maj.-Gen. Sheridan's cavalry in their rear. Looking upon them as already our prisoners, I had ordered the artillery to cease firing as a dictate of humanity; my surprise therefore was extreme when this force charged upon our front; but the fire of our infantry, which had already gained their flanks, the capture of their superior officers, already in our hands, the concentrated and murderous fire of six batteries of our artillery within effective range, brought them promptly to a surrender.
The position was won, the right of the rebel army was annihilated, and the prisoners secured were counted by thousands.
In the attack upon the road along which the enemy was passing, and already referred to, a portion of Gen. Sheridan's cavalry operated upon our right, and n the subsequent attack the mass of the cavalry operated on the enemy's right flank and rear, doing splendid service and completing the successes of the day, capturing most of the prisoners who had been driven back, broken and demoralized, by the attack previously described. Many general officers were captured by the combined forces of the infantry and cavalry, and of those who surrendered to the Sixth Corps were Lieut.-Gen. Ewel and Maj. Gen. Custis Lee. After the battle Gen. Getty's division, which was still comparatively fresh, was advanced some two miles to the front, and he pushed his skirmish line some two miles farther, meeting no serious opposition. The First and Third Divisions, following Gen. Getty's movement, took position on his left and right, respectively, where they bivouacked for the night.
In this battle of Sailor's Creek the corps nobly sustained its previous well-earned reputation. It made the forced march which preceded that battle with great cheerfulness and enthusiasm, and went into the fight with a determination to be successful seldom evinced by the best troops, and by its valor made the battle of Sailor's Creek the most important of the last and crowning contests against the rebel Army of Northern Virginia. To it had fallen the opportunity of striking the decisive blows, not only at Petersburg, on the 2d of April, but at Sailor's Creek, on the 6th, and most gallantly did it vindicate the confidence reposed in it baits own officers and the commander of the Army of the Potomac. The corps has always fought well, but never better than in the assault at Petersburg, and at Sailor's Creek four days after.
On the morning of the 7th, receiving orders from your headquarters to continue the pursuit of the enemy so long as there was a prospect of success, the corps was on the road shortly after 7 a.m., proceeding in the direction of Farmville on the road aken by the enemy. Reaching Rice's Station it was ascertained that the Twenty-fourth Corps had passed that point from Burkeville, and was of course ahead of us. Proceeding to Sandy River I was there informed that the advance of the Twenty-fourth Corps was in possession of Farmville, and not knowing what direction the enemy had taken an officer was sent forward to obtain information, with the intention of moving on Prince Edward Court-House if this intelligence was true, where the corps would have been in position either to follow the enemy promptly or cut him off it he moved toward Danville, or to move on Appomattox Court-House by the most direct route, with a prospect of intercepting a portion, at least, of his force, in the event of his taking that direction. Ascertaining that Farmville was not in our possession, I again moved toward that place, being somewhat delayed, however, by a division of cavalry that passed Sandy River in my front and by the Twenty-fourth Corps, the rear of which was overtaken before reaching Farmville. Passing the latter, the corps was massed on the high grounds overlooking the town, and the lieutenant-general, who came up about this time, directed me to remain in that position till further orders. It had been previously ascertained that the enemy, instead of moving toward Danville, had gone in the direction of Lynchburg, and that the main body had crossed the river at Farmville and High Bridge, burning the bridges at both these points, and that their rear guard alone had moved on the south side of the Appomattox. The river being too deep for the fording of infantry, a light foot bridge was constructed over it, and, under instructions from the lieutenant-general commanding, a pontoon train from the Army of the James was ordered up and a bridge thrown across the river for the artillery and trains. The infantry, crossing by the foot bridge, were encamped some time after dark, the trains and artillery getting into camp about midnight.
On Saturday, the 8th, orders to move at 5 a.m. were not received till 8 a.m., when the corps was at once put in motion and rapidly overtook the Second Corps. Instead of following this corps, the head of the column, at Maj.-Gen. Humphreys' suggestion, was turned off on the plank road, which runs nearly parallel to and intersects at New Store the road followed by this corps. At New Store the corps camped for the night, after a march of about seventeen miles.
Starting at 5 a.m. on Sunday, the 9th, the Second Corps was soon overtaken and followed closely to the vicinity of Appomattox Court-House, where the troops were halted and held ready for any movement, awaiting the result of the conference then being held between Gen.'s Grant and Lee. Soon after halting official intelligence of the surrender of Gen. Lee's forces was announced to the army, and was received with great enthusiasm by the soldiers, who looked upon this as the result of all their privations, and as the virtual ending of the struggle which had convelused the country for four years, in which they had willingly rushed their lives and fortunes.
In the whole campaign I have been ably assisted by my staff, who, by their services, are entitled to the acknowledgments of the country; they are as follows: Maj. C. H. Whittelsey, assistant adjutant-general; Lieut. Col. Walter S. Franklin, assistant inspector-general; Maj.'s Arthur McClellan, Richard F. Halsted, Thomas L. Haydn, and Henry W. Farrar, aides-de-camp; Lieut. James W. Dixon, acting aide-de-camp; Maj. S. H. Manning, acting chief quartermaster; Maj. James K. Holman, medical director; Actg. Staff Surg. S. J. Allen, medical inspector; Maj. D. I. Miln, provost-marshal; Capt. George E. Wood, ambulance officer; Maj. E. K. Russell, acting commissary of subsistence; Lieut. Thomas H. Fearey, signal officer; Lieut. Alex. Samuels, acting assistant quartermaster.*
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
H. G. WRIGHT,
Maj.-Gen., Cmdg.
Bibliographic Information : Letter Reproduced from The War of The Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I., Volume 46. Part I, Reports. , Serial No. 95, Pages 905, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.
