confusion afflicting the army, the soldiers
found the Marine Brigade an amusing
spectacle. Tucker’s men answered their
officers’ commands with the traditional
maritime reply of “Aye, aye, sir,” inducing
the foot soldiers to call them the “Aye-
Ayes.” Officers gave nautical-style com-
mands, ordering the men to march to port
or starboard rather than left or right. They
wore naval uniforms, and some of the men
carried naval cutlasses.
The largest contingent of Confederates
included the troops under Lt. Gen. James
Longstreet, who streamed out of the
Petersburg works. They headed west,
marching roughly parallel to the north
bank of the Appomattox River. Maj. Gen.
John B. Gordon commanded the rear
guard. On a separate road went another
massive wagon train. Another part of the
Southern army, under Maj. Gen. William
Mahone, evacuated the fortifications northof Petersburg, leaving behind the heavy
artillery they had manned for two years.
Mahone marched on a course that would
merge his troops with the main army.
When the Union Army commanders
learned that the Confederate works
around Petersburg were empty, part of the
army moved to take possession of Rich-
mond. Grant sent five corps of infantry
and Sheridan’s cavalry to catch up with
and delay the retreating Rebels. Swift pur-
suit was an ideal job for Sheridan’s cavalry.
Early in the war, the Confederate cavalry
far outclassed the Union Army’s horsemen.
Gradually, however, the Union cavalry
gained polish and professional skill, while
the superiority of the Southern cavalry
faded. Southern cavalry horses were tired
and short of food; their dire condition was
aggravated by the sudden and disorga-
nized retreat from Petersburg. Lee’s over-
stretched cavalry could little to interfere
with Sheridan or his three division com-
manders, Brig. Gen. Thomas Devin and
Maj. Gens. George Crook and George
Armstrong Custer.
Events were spinning out of control forLee. Perhaps 30,000 men were left under
his command after the final battles around
Petersburg. Including the two massive
wagon trains, they were divided into five
major sections. He had to keep ahead of
Sheridan long enough to unite his scattered
troops and also find some way of feeding
them. To meet both objectives, Lee ordered
his troops to rendezvous at Amelia Court
House, 40 miles west of Richmond.
Because this spot was on the still operating
Richmond & Danville Railroad, orders
went out to transport some of the govern-
ment’s reserve food and supplies to Amelia
Court House. With the army resupplied,
the troops would march south toward
North Carolina.
Sheridan’s cavalry dogged the Confeder-
ates with constant skirmishing and a large
clash at Namozine Church on April 3.
Exhaustion, lack of sleep, and hunger
plagued Lee’s troops. Private Carlton
McCarthy of the Richmond Howitzers
remembered marching all day on April 3
and 4. Awakened before dawn on April 5,
his comrades moved out “stumbling,
bumping against each other, and sleepingOverwhelmed Confederates surrender after Brig.
Gen. Henry Davies’s men intercept a wagon train
bound from Richmond near Paines Crossroads. The
Federals destroyed 200 wagons and captured five
guns and numerous prisoners.CWQ-Sum16 Sayler's Creek_Layout 1 4/20/16 4:29 PM Page 17