The Final Fight at Appomattox Court House

For a short preface on what the Union and Confederate armies were up to before arriving to Appomattox Courthouse, check out this post on the battle at Sailor’s Creek. After the Confederates under General Robert E. Lee abandoned Farmville to the Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant, his next objective was to keep pushing…

Along the Appomattox at Charley’s Waterfront Café

After the battles at Sailor’s Creek, Robert E. Lee and what was left of his Confederate forces aimed for Farmville, Virginia. Farmville with its population of 1,500 prospered on tobacco and served as the location of a major hospital with 1,200 beds. The South Side Railroad entered Farmville from the East, bringing with it supply…

Down By the Banks of Sailor’s Creek

In the first months of 1865, the Army of Northern Virginia had been whittled down to a mere 55,000 as it left the trenches of Petersburg. Desertion rates were high, driving General Robert E. Lee to accept volunteers and conscripts from southern Virginia, as well as a Naval Brigade full of sailors – not soldiers.…