In June of 1864, Union Cavalry forces moved south on the Richmond & Danville Railroad, destroying track as they progressed toward the bridge across the Staunton River. Arriving at the Randolph Station on the afternoon of the 24th, they selected Mulberry Hill Plantation as their headquarters and immediately began to plan an attack on the […]
In late June 1864, Confederate General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia were engaged in a desperate defense of the city of Petersburg. Victory for Lee depended on a steady flow of supplies from the west, brought in by rail. To force Lee from Petersburg, Union Geneneral U. S. Grant planned to […]
Charlotte County – One of the 53 sites along the Civil Rights in Education Heritage Trail®. Beginning in 1937, Ambassador and Mrs. David K. E. Bruce anonymously gave money to 11 sites in Southside Virginia to build libraries. The Bruce libraries, as they were called, became the first public libraries to allow access to African […]
Longstreet built breastworks here to protect the rear of Lee’s army, most of which was four miles south at Appomattox Court House
General Longstreet built breastworks here to protect the rear of Lee’s army at Appomattox Court House. On the morning of April 9, General Lee arrived hoping to meet General Grant. After learning that he was approaching from another route, Lee rode back to the village.
At this point Lee’s army would change its line of march: Gordon’s corps now took the lead while General James Longstreet’s corps became the rear guard. They would continue to be pursued by Union army corps under the direction of Generals Humphreys and Wright.
Generals Grant and Meade used this location for their headquarters during the night. Grant stayed in the house, and it was here where he received Lee’s second letter suggesting a peace meeting. He left the next morning and rode on to Appomattox Court House.
The Confederate army marched through this tobacco town, followed by the Union army. Lee hoped to issue rations to his men here before turning south but was forced to flee across the Appomattox River. Grant sent his first dispatch to Lee concerning surrender from here.
From here you can see the 1914 steel railroad bridge that spans the Appomattox River above the brick piers of the antebellum High Bridge, which carried the South Side Railroad. The old wooden bridge and the wagon bridge, just to the east of it, were the scene of two desperate engagements in April 1865. The […]
Confederate troops entrenched here to protect the road from Burkeville Junction and skirmished with Union troops advancing from that direction.
