Originally aired on October 06, 1995 - In part 58 of our Civil War series, Virginia Tech history professor James Robertson tells us why no state park in Virginia that focuses on the conflict has more human fascination and historical significance than
Sayler’s Creek.
#58 – Sayler’s Creek
Of the handful of state parks in Virginia that focus on the Civil War, none has more human fascination – or historical importance – than Sayler’s Creek. The site is along the boundary between Amelia and Prince Edward counties. An effort has been made of late to spell the name of the fighting “S-A-I-L-O-R-S”. Yet local citizens, as well as tradition, know the creek as “S-A-Y-L-E-R-S”.
The action there came midway in General Robert E. Lee’s retreat from Petersburg in April, 1865. Hungry, tired, half-naked survivors of the once-mighty Confederate Army of Northern Virginia were staggering westward in search of food and a place to make a stand. Their leader, then fifty-eight years old, had always been an impressive man with handsome face, big shoulders, and deep chest. By the spring of 1865, Lee’s usually well-combed hair and beard were gray and scraggly. The war had taken a terrible toll on his health. He was bent, and weak, and indescribably tired.
Now, constantly on the heels and flanks of that battered Southern force was the 76,000-man Union Army of the Potomac, with General Ulysses Grant pushing hard to bring Lee to bay and end the Civil War.
Confederates were moving toward Farmville and the lifeline of the South Side Railroad. Federals were moving to block the Southern retreat. The hunted and the hunter were marching along parallel roads.
On Thursday, April 6, 1865, the long Confederate column of fatigued soldiers and worn-out wagons were advancing slowly through country of sharp hills and deep ravines, all centered around the stream called Sayler’s Creek. General Philip Sheridan’s Union cavalry severed Lee’s line of march; Federal artillery batteries unlimbered on high ground nearby; blue-clad infantry swarmed into position along the wood lines. Three separate battles began in earshot of one another as Grant’s army pounded the rear elements of Lee’s force.
Among those taken prisoner were eight Confederate generals. Foremost in that group was Richard Ewell, who had been Stonewall Jackson’s trusted lieutenant back in the days when the future for the South looked cheerful. The other captured general officers were Seth Barton, Montgomery Corse, Dudley DuBose, Eppa Hunton, Joseph Kershaw, James Simms, and Lee’s eldest son Custis.
Late in the afternoon, army commander Lee looked toward his rear. He saw teamsters without wagons, soldiers without rifles, and shattered regiments without officers. “My God!” Lee exclaimed. “Has the army been dissolved?”
Lee quickly grabbed a battle flag and held it aloft as a rallying point for soldiers who flocked around him wearily, anxiously, instinctively.
General William Mahone (a Confederate division commander far more gallant than his 100 pounds indicated) galloped up and assured Lee that many brave Southern soldiers were still prepared to do their duty. Lee’s tenseness cooled, and his voice mellowed. “Yes, General,” he said, “there are some true men left.”
That night, under cover of darkness, what was left of the Army of Northern Virginia slogged on over winding country roads leading to the west. The army was not heading toward anything. It was trying to march away from Grant’s forces. The only hope for Lee and his soldiers was to get somewhere, obtain more supplies somehow, and stay alive by some means; but two days in front of them lay a quiet hamlet called Appomattox Court House.
