way down the hill. Gordon managed to
hold on until dark. He got away with part
of his force but at the cost of abandoning
the wagon train. The Confederates lost
another 1,700 prisoners along with 300
supply wagons and 70 ambulances at
Lockett’s Farm and the Double Bridges.
Meanwhile, the advance of the Army of
Northern Virginia was only a few miles east
of Farmville. Lt. Col. Charles S. Venable
found Robert E. Lee riding with Mahone
and delivered the bad news that the Feder-
als had captured the supply train. Lee
replied, “Where is Anderson? Where is
Ewell? It is strange I can’t hear from them.”
Then Lee said to Mahone, “I have no other
troops. Will you take your division to
Sailor’s Creek?”
The three officers then rode back toward
the battlefield. When they reached the top
of a rise overlooking Harper’s Farm,
Mahone saw that “the disaster which had
overtaken our army was in full view, and
the scene beggars description—hurrying
teamsters with their teams and dangling
traces (no wagons), retreating infantry
without guns, many without hats, a harm-less mob, with the massive columns of the
enemy moving orderly on. At this specta-
cle, Lee straightened himself in his saddle
and, looking more the soldier than ever,
exclaimed, as if talking to himself, ‘My
God! Has the army dissolved?’”
Mahone assured Lee, “No, general, here
are troops willing to do their duty.” Lee
replied, “Yes, general, there are some true
men left. Will you please keep those peo-
ple back?” As Mahone prepared his divi-
sion to make a stand, some of the fleeing
soldiers halted and gathered around Lee,
who was on horseback holding a battle
flag. Mahone took the flag from the com-
mander and carried it to his troops. Block-
ing further Union advances and providing
a rallying point for the scattered soldiers
streaming from the battlefield, Mahone
temporarily stopped the torrent of disas-
ters besetting the army. In all, the Union
Army had captured nearly one-quarter of
the Army of Northern Virginia. Besides
losing 7,700 men as prisoners, the Con-
federates lost another 1,100 men killed or
wounded. Eight generals, including Ewell,
were captured. Total Union losses were
only 1,180.
Late on the night of April 6, Lieutenant
John S. Wise, a courier sent by Jefferson
Davis, went looking for Lee. It was wellpast midnight when he located the com-
mander. Lee stood next to an ambulance,
in which an aide sat writing by lantern
light. On the ground a camp fire of fence
rails was burning low; a distracted Lee
stared into the burning embers. Wise
reported that Davis wanted news about
Lee’s plans. “Have you any objective
point, general, any place where you con-
template making a stand?” asked Wise.
“No,” replied Lee. “I shall have to be gov-
erned by each day’s developments.” Then
Wise heard Lee say, a touch of resentment
raising his voice, “A few more Sailor’s
Creeks and it will all be over.”
About that same time in the Union
camps, a confident Sheridan reviewed the
day’s events. He wrote Grant late on
April 6, “If the thing is pressed, I think
that Lee will surrender.” After Lincoln
read the battle reports and Sheridan’s
statement, he ordered Grant, “Let the
thing be pressed.” Three days later, the
much diminished Army of Northern Vir-
ginia was trapped at Appomattox Court
House. With Union cavalry again in front
of them and enemy infantry moving to
surround them from the rear, Lee bowed
to the inevitable and surrendered to
Grant on April 9. The Civil War, to all
intents and purposes, was over.Lieutenant General Richard Ewell’s men invert their
muskets and lower their Confederate battle flag at
the end of the Battle of Sayler’s Creek. “My God,”
said Robert E. Lee, “has the army dissolved?”CWQ-Sum16 Sayler's Creek_Layout 1 4/20/16 4:29 PM Page 23