troopers and the smoke of burning supply
wagons. Anderson halted at Marshall’s
Crossroads, his two divisions taking up
positions north of the Deatonsville Road
and throwing together a line of entrench-
ments. After some shuffling of units, Maj.
Gen. Bushrod Johnson held the right and
Maj. Gen. George Pickett held the left.
Meanwhile, the main body of the Confed-
erate Army was several miles west at Rice’s
Station, a stop on the Southside Railroad.
Longstreet and Lee were unaware of the
peril facing the detached portion of the
army, and the beleaguered Anderson was
unable to get word to them.
While Anderson prepared for battle,
Ewell and Gordon were still some distance
behind. Ewell ordered the remaining wag-
ons to leave the Deatonsville Road near
Holt’s Corner. They took a side road that
led to the Jamestown Road, which ran
alongside the Appomattox River on the
route to Farmville. Brig. Gen. Andrew A.
Humphreys’s II Corps was close behind
Gordon and the Confederate rear guard,
and Wright’s VI Corps was following
Humphreys. Maj. Gen. Frank Wheaton,
one of Wright’s division commanders,reported that his troops pushed with “the
greatest haste, much of the march over
plowed fields and rough ground.” To fore-
stall the capture of the wagons, Gordon fol-
lowed the train. Ewell never learned that his
rear guard had left the Deatonsville Road,
assuming that Gordon still shielded him.
Humphrey’s troops turned north to fol-
low Gordon, but Wright’s VI Corps
stepped into their place to confront Ewell.
Learning of Wright’s approach, Ewell
halted west of Little Saylor’s Creek. On
high ground overlooking the stream, the
Confederates prepared a hasty defensive
line running perpendicular to and across
the Deatonsville Road. Little Sayler’s
Creek was about 300 yards in front of the
Confederates, with brush pines between
and a cleared field beyond it. On the left
was Custis Lee, with the Richmond troops,
and on the right was Kershaw. Between
and slightly behind them, the Marine
Brigade waited in reserve.
Accompanying Ewell was Colonel Sta-
pleton Crutchfield, who had become
famous as Stonewall Jackson’s chief of
artillery during the Shenandoah Valley
campaign. Following the Battle of Chan-cellorsville on May 2, 1863, Crutchfield
was seriously wounded in the friendly fire
that fatally wounded Jackson. After
Crutchfield returned to duty, he com-
manded a battery of the Richmond
defenses until the capital was evacuated.
Now his heavy artillery brigade was
attached as infantry to Custis Lee’s division.
While Ewell’s men waited, Major
Andrew Cowan readied 20 guns of VI
Corps’ artillery brigade on high ground near
the Hillsman house. At 5 PM, Cowan’s guns
opened up what the major called “a most
effective fire” at a range of about 800 yards.
Cowan reported later that “prisoners stated
that it was the most terrific fire they were
ever exposed to.” All of Ewell’s guns had
been dispatched with the wagon trains, and
the Confederates could do nothing except
lie down and let the enemy shells pass over
them. Cowan’s only casualties were two
wounded gunners.
West of Sayler’s Creek, Maj. Gen. Wesley
Merritt arrived to take command of the
divisions of Custer, Devin, and Crook. Mer-
ritt and VI Corps had the Rebels hemmed
into an open triangle that pointed to the
east. Anderson’s men, facing south towardCWQ-Sum16 Sayler's Creek_Layout 1 4/20/16 4:29 PM Page 20