The Battle of Amelia Springs, Virginia was an engagement between the Union Army (Army of the Shenandoah, Army of the Potomac and Army of the James) and Confederate Army of Northern Virginia that occurred on April 5, 1865 during the Appomattox Campaign of the American Civil War. It was followed by a second rear guard action near the same location on the night of April 5, 1865 and morning of April 6, 1865 during the Union Army pursuit of the Confederate forces (Army of Northern Virginia and Richmond local defense forces) which were fleeing westward after the fall of Petersburg and Richmond, Virginia at the Third Battle of Petersburg (sometimes shown as the Breakthrough at Petersburg) on April 2, 1865. The actions took place just prior to the Battle of Sailor's Creek (sometimes shown as "Sayler's Creek") on April 6, 1865. That battle would be the last major engagement between the Union Army under the overall direction of Union General-in-Chief, Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, and General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia before that Confederate army's surrender at Appomattox Court House, Virginia on April 9, 1865.
On April 5, 1865, Confederate cavalry under the command of Brig. Gen. Martin Gary, reinforced by cavalry from the divisions of Maj. Gen. Thomas L. Rosser and Colonel Thomas T. Munford, which were under the overall command of Maj. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee, counterattacked a brigade of Union cavalry led by Brig. Gen. Henry E. Davies, Jr.Davis, Burke, 1981 ed., p. 231.Longacre, 2000, p. 329. Davies's brigade was part of the division commanded by Maj. Gen. George Crook, which in turn was under the overall command of Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan. Davies's force was returning from a scout during which they burned Confederate wagons in the vicinity of Paineville, Virginia (Paineville area of Amelia County, Virginia), about north of Jetersville, Virginia. The wagons were carrying supplies and equipment for the Army of Northern Virginia. The running fight after the Paineville action started north of Amelia Springs and continued through Amelia Springs almost to Jetersville, Virginia on the South Side Railroad. Jetersville, which was southwest of Amelia Court House, Virginia where Lee's forces were concentrating, had been held by Sheridan's forces since the day before.Davis, 1981, pp. 202–203 The battle was inconclusive in that the Confederate forces had to return to Amelia Springs when Davies's troops were able to join with other Union forces as they approached Jetersville. During the night of April 5, 1865, Union Army divisions under the command of Brig. Gen. Nelson A. Miles and Maj. Gen. Gershom Mott fought a minor and inconclusive action against the Army of Northern Virginia rear guard commanded by Maj. Gen. John B. Gordon near Amelia Springs.Salmon, John S. The Official Virginia Civil War Battlefield Guide. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2001. . p. 476.
Although casualties for both sides in both engagements have been stated to be light and about even at less than 250 combined, the Union commanders reported suffering 158 casualties. The Confederates presumably suffered fewer than 100.Eicher, 2001, p. 815 says Davies lost 20 men killed and 96 wounded. In addition, Davies's men took over 300 Confederate prisoners in the Paineville action immediately preceding the counterattack which precipitated the running battle through and beyond Amelia Springs almost to Jetersville.Davis, 1981, p. 232 states that Davies took about 1,000 prisoners, five cannons and several hundred thin mules while destroying 180 wagons. This accords with Davies's own brief account of the battle in Davies, 1895, pp. 239–240. Eicher, 2001, p. 815 says that Davies took 700 prisoners and destroyed 200 wagons, including many of Gen. Lee's headquarters papers.
Background
Siege and Breakthrough at Petersburg
During the 292-day Richmond–Petersburg Campaign (Siege of Petersburg) Union General-in-Chief Ulysses S. Grant had to conduct a campaign of trench warfare and attrition in which the Union forces tried to wear down the less numerous Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, destroy or cut off sources of supply and supply lines to Petersburg and Richmond and extend the defensive lines which the outnumbered and declining Confederate force had to defend to the breaking point.Hess, Earl J. In the Trenches at Petersburg: Field Fortifications & Confederate Defeat. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2009. . pp. 18–37.Beringer, Richard E., Herman Hattaway, Archer Jones, and William N. Still, Jr. Why the South Lost the Civil War. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1986. . pp. 331–332.Trudeau, Noah Andre. The Last Citadel: Petersburg, Virginia, June 1864–April 1865. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1991. . p. 18. After the Battle of Hatcher's Run on February 5–7, 1865 extended the armies' lines another , Lee had few reserves after manning the lengthened Confederate defenses.Weigley, Russell F. A Great Civil War: A Military and Political History, 1861–1865. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2000. . p. 433. Lee knew he must soon move part or all of his army from the Richmond and Petersburg lines, obtain food and supplies at Danville, Virginia or possibly Lynchburg, Virginia and join General Joseph E. Johnston's force opposing Major General William T. Sherman's army in North Carolina. Lee thought that if the Confederates could quickly defeat Sherman, they might turn back to oppose Grant before he could combine his forces with Sherman's.Greene, A. Wilson. The Final Battles of the Petersburg Campaign: Breaking the Backbone of the Rebellion. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2008. . p. 154.Calkins, Chris. The Appomattox Campaign, March 29 – April 9, 1865. Conshohocken, PA: Combined Books, 1997. . pp. 14, 16.Hess, 2009, p. 253.Longacre, Edward G. The Cavalry at Appomattox: A Tactical Study of Mounted Operations During the Civil War's Climactic Campaign, March 27 – April 9, 1865. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2003. . p. 39.
After an offensive begun on the night of March 28–March 29, 1865 that included the Battle of Lewis's Farm, Battle of White Oak Road and the Battle of Dinwiddie Court House, Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant's Union Army (Army of the Potomac, Army of the James, Army of the Shenandoah) broke the Confederate States Army defenses of Petersburg, Virginia at the Battle of Five Forks on April 1 and the Third Battle of Petersburg on April 2. A Union division under the command of Brigadier General Nelson A. Miles also broke up the last defense of the South Side Railroad on the afternoon of April 2, cutting off that railroad as a supply line or route of retreat for the Confederates. General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia evacuated Petersburg, Virginia and the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia on the night of April 2–3 and began a retreat in hopes of reaching Danville, Virginia and then linking up with General Joseph E. Johnston's army attempting to slow the advance the Union army group commanded by Major General William T. Sherman in North Carolina.Woodworth, Steven E., and Kenneth J. Winkle. Oxford Atlas of the Civil War. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. . p. 326.Bearss, Edwin C., with Bryce A. Suderow. The Petersburg Campaign. Vol. 2, The Western Front Battles, September 1864 – April 1865. El Dorado Hills, CA: Savas Beatie, 2014. .Greene, A. Wilson. The Final Battles of the Petersburg Campaign: Breaking the Backbone of the Rebellion. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2008. .Horn, John. The Petersburg Campaign: June 1864-April 1865. Conshohocken, PA: Combined Publishing, 1999. . p. 220. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
Confederate army flight
Much of the Army of Northern Virginia as well as Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his cabinet, were able to escape from Petersburg and Richmond just in advance of the Union troops entering those cities on April 3 because Confederate rear guard forces, especially at Forts Gregg and Whitworth, Fort Mahone and Sutherland's Station, fought desperate delaying actions on April 2 to give most of the Confederates a head start on Union Army pursuers.Woodworth, 2004, p. 322. General Lee planned to reunite the four columns of his army that left Petersburg and Richmond and to resupply at Amelia Court House, Virginia, southwest of Richmond.Winik, Jay. April 1865: The Month That Saved America. New York: HarperCollins, 2006. . First published 2001. p. 124. Lee's men left their positions in Petersburg and Richmond with only one day's rations.Winik, 2006, p. 127. Lee expected to find a supply train of rations that he had ordered brought to Amelia Court House to meet the army at that location.Kinzer, Charles E. "Amelia Court House/Jetersville (3–5 April 1865)." In Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History, edited by David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2000. . pp. 36-37.Davis, Burke. To Appomattox: Nine April Days, 1865. New York: Eastern Acorn Press reprint, 1981. . First published New York: Rinehart, 1959. p. 190.
Pursuit and skirmishes
While most of Lee's army had an effective one day head start on their flight, the advance cavalry and infantry corps of the Union Army under the command of Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan were able to keep Lee's forces to their north by pursuing Lee on a parallel course to their south.Long, E. B. The Civil War Day by Day: An Almanac, 1861–1865. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1971. . p. 665.Kennedy, 1998, p. 424. Union cavalry harassed and skirmished with Confederate units almost from the outset of Lee's army's march from Petersburg.Winik, 2006, p. 129. On April 3, 1865, advance units of the Union cavalry fought with rear guard Confederate cavalry at the Battle of Namozine Church. On April 4, 1865, the opposing forces skirmished at Beaver Pond Creek or Tabernacle ChurchThis should not be confused with the 1862 Battle of Beaver Dam Creek or Battle of Mechanicsville. and at Amelia Court House.Long, 1971, p. 666. Meanwhile, Sheridan's forces occupied Jetersville and Burkeville Junction.
Battles of Amelia Springs
First Engagement
Lee had hoped to find a supply train at Amelia Court House, Virginia, southwest of Richmond, but when he and his forces arrived there on April 4, 1865, he found that the train contained only ordnance, ammunition, caissons and harnesses. Lee sent out foraging parties, losing precious time in the process.Salmon, 2001, p. 474. Some historians have written that the primary cause of the delay at Amelia Court House was a delay in bringing up a pontoon bridge needed to cross rain-swollen rivers. In any event, this delay allowed even more Union troops to catch up to and to get ahead of his hungry, exhausted and declining force. Few supplies could be found in the depleted area near Amelia Court House.Davis, 1981 ed., p. 192. Lee had to order his hungry men to resume their march in the hope that they could find rations at Farmville, Virginia. By April 4, Sheridan's Union forces had taken advanced positions at Burkeville Junction and at Jetersville, which blocked Lee's access to the Richmond and Danville Railroad and to the direct route southwestward.