The Battle of Appomattox Station was fought during the Appomattox Campaign at the end of the American Civil War. A Union Army (Army of the Potomac, Army of the James, Army of the Shenandoah) cavalry division under the command of Brigadier General (Brevet Major General) George Armstrong Custer opposed Confederate Army of Northern Virginia artillery units commanded by Brigadier General Lindsay Walker with support from some dismounted cavalrymen, artillerymen armed with muskets and some stragglers on April 8, 1865, at Appomattox Station in Virginia.
Following the withdrawal of General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia from their defenses at Petersburg, Virginia after the Battle of Five Forks, Third Battle of Petersburg and Battle of Sutherland's Station, the Union Army closely pursued the Confederates westward on parallel and trailing routes. The Confederates, short of rations and supplies, suffered numerous losses from desertion, straggling and battle, especially the Battle of Sailor's Creek on April 6, 1865. After the Battle of Cumberland Church on April 7, Lee's army made a third consecutive night march in an effort to stay ahead of the Union forces. Union cavalry under the command of Major General Philip H. Sheridan made a long ride of about on April 8, 1865 in order to capture Confederate supply trains at Appomattox Station and get ahead of the Confederates, cutting off their routes of retreat.
At the start of the action at Appomattox Station, between about 2:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. on April 8, the leading troopers of Company K, 2nd New York Cavalry Regiment rode up to three unguarded Confederate trains that had been sent from Lynchburg, Virginia with rations, ordnance and other supplies for the Army of Northern Virginia and forced them to surrender. The rest of the regiment and other troopers from the brigade of Colonel Alexander Pennington, Jr. soon rode into the station in support. Troopers with railroad experience ran the three trains east about to the camp of the Union Army of the James. A fourth locomotive and one or two cars escaped toward Lynchburg and at least one remaining car from that train was burned.
The reserve artillery of the Army of Northern Virginia, under the command of Third Corps artillery chief, Brigadier General Lindsay Walker was parked near the station and the Lynchburg stage road. The artillery was guarded by about 500 cavalrymen commanded by Brigadier General Martin Gary, supported by artillerymen of Captain Crispin Dickenson's Ringgold Battery and Captain David Walker's Otey Battery, who had been re-armed with muskets, and some stragglers gathered up in the vicinity by Lieutenant W. F. Robinson of the Ringgold Battery. Walker began to shell the station soon after he learned of the presence of Union cavalry there. Custer's men soon discovered the source of the firing about away and attacked Walker's artillery park near the Lynchburg stage road. Walker's men were concentrated there with about 25 guns arrayed in a semi-circle to defend themselves and another 35 to 75 guns parked in reserve.
After capturing the supply trains, the Union cavalry attacked the Confederate artillery batteries and their supporting dismounted cavalrymen, armed artillerymen and engineers and infantry stragglers.Historian Chris Calkins states that Brigadier General Martin Gary's 500 cavalrymen were the only support for Brigadier General Reuben Lindsay Walker's artillery and that Walker placed dismounted cavalry on either side of his guns. Calkins also wrote, however, that many of Walker's artillerymen were armed with muskets and acted as skirmishers. No regular infantry units were with Walker at the battle, but some stragglers were gather up by Lieutenant W. F. Robinson of the Ringgold Battery. Calkins, Chris. The Appomattox Campaign, March 29 – April 9, 1865. Conshohocken, PA: Combined Books, 1997. . p. 154. See also Davis, Burke. To Appomattox: Nine April Days, 1865. New York: Eastern Acorn Press reprint, 1981. . First published New York: Rinehart, 1959. p. 326. Marvel, William. Lee's Last Retreat: The Flight to Appomattox. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2002. . pp. 147–148.Historian Burke Davis wrote that Gary's Brigade was in the midst of the fighting almost from the start and that the small arms of some 300 to 400 men were placed among the artillery's guns. Davis, 1981 (1959), pp. 324–325.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. . pp. 173–175. After making several futile charges in gathering darkness, the Union cavalry broke the Confederate defenses as the Confederates began to withdraw, taking as many guns and wagons with them as they could. After their breakthrough, Custer's men followed the fleeing Confederates in a running battle to the Lynchburg stage road, on which the Union troopers seized an important foothold.
Sheridan relieved Custer's tired men with the division of Major General George Crook after the fighting died down. Sheridan advised Union General-in-Chief Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant of the favorable outcome of his raid at the station and fight at the artillery park. Sheridan expressed his opinion that the Union forces could surround and crush the Confederates the next morning with infantry support. He urged Major General Edward Ord, who had been pushing and encouraging his men of the XXIV Corps and two brigades of the 2nd Division (Brigadier General (Brevet Major General) William Birney's division, temporarily under Gibbon's command) of the XXV Corps (African-Americans) of the Army of the James to keep as close as possible to the cavalry. He also ordered Brigadier General (Brevet Major General) Charles Griffin, whose V Corps was moving just behind Ord's men, to close up so the Confederates could not escape in the morning.Ord outranked Sheridan so technically Sheridan could not issue orders to Ord.
Background
Breakthrough at Petersburg
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 Grant's Union Army group broke the Confederate 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 at the Battle of Sutherland's Station 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 and the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia on the night of April 2–3 and began a retreat with the intent of reaching Danville, Virginia and then linking up with General Joseph E. Johnston's army which was 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.
Much of the Army of Northern Virginia, local defense troops and a battalion of sailors 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.
Flight to Amelia Court House; Battles of Namozine Church, Beaver Pond Creek
While most of Lee's army had an effective one day head start on their march, the advance cavalry and infantry corps of the Union Army under the command of Major General 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, Frances H., ed. The Civil War Battlefield Guide. 2nd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1998. . p. 424. Union cavalry harassed and skirmished with Confederate units almost from the beginning of Lee's army's flight from Petersburg.Winik, Jay. April 1865: The Month That Saved America. New York: HarperCollins, 2006. . First published 2001. p. 129. On April 3, 1865, advance units of the Union cavalry under the command of Brigadier General (Brevet Major General) George Armstrong Custer 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, Virginia and Burkeville Junction, Virginia, an important railroad junction.
General Lee first planned to reunite the four columns of his army marching from Petersburg and Richmond and to resupply them at Amelia Court House, Virginia, southwest of Richmond.Winik, 2006 (2001) p. 124. Lee's men left their positions in Petersburg and Richmond with only one day's rations.Winik, 2006 (2001), 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. When he arrived at Amelia Court House, Lee found only ordnance, but no rations, in the supply trains. He delayed a day to allow his men to forage in the area but he also could not move without leaving part of his army behind as all the troops did not reach Amelia Court House until the next morning.Calkins, Chris. The Appomattox Campaign, March 29 – April 9, 1865. Conshohocken, PA: Combined Books, 1997. . p. 76.Marvel, 2002, p. 49.
Battle of Amelia Springs or Painesville
On the morning of April 5, Sheridan sent Brigadier General Henry E. Davies's brigade of Major General George Crook's division to scout for Confederate movements beyond Amelia Court House near Paineville, or Paine's Cross Roads, about north of Amelia Springs.Humphreys, Andrew A., The Virginia Campaign of 1864 and 1865: The Army of the Potomac and the Army of the James. New York: Charles Scribner%27s Sons, 1883. . Retrieved March 5, 2015. p. 376. About east of Paineville, Davies found and attacked a wagon train that had left Richmond with provisions for Lee's army, including food, ammunition and headquarters baggage, which was guarded by Brigadier General Martin Gary's cavalry brigade. Coincidentally, Davies came across another wagon train with excess artillery from Amelia Court House approaching his position from the south.Marvel, William. Lee's Last Retreat: The Flight to Appomattox. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2002. . pp. 55–56.