Battle of Appomattox Station

Coordinates: 37°21′12.5″N 78°49′38.3″W / 37.353472°N 78.827306°W

Battle of Appomattox Station
Part of the American Civil War
DateApril 8, 1865
LocationAppomattox County, Virginia
Result Union victory
Belligerents
United States United States (Union) Confederate States of America CSA (Confederacy)
Commanders and leaders
George Armstrong Custer Reuben Lindsay Walker
Units involved
division Artillery Train
Strength
4,000 [1] 3,000 [1]
Casualties and losses
200 killed or wounded
Unknown captured		 500 killed or wounded
~1,000 captured
25–30 guns, 3 trains and 100 wagons captured

The Battle of Appomattox Station was fought April 8, 1865, during the Appomattox Campaign of the American Civil War. Major General George Armstrong Custer's Union cavalry, en route to Appomattox Station, clashed with the reserve artillery of the Confederate Third Corps, Army of Northern Virginia, under Brigadier General Lindsay Walker.[2]

The Union army was ordered to take control of the four supply trains that awaited General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.[3] The trains carried medical supplies, ammunition, and food vital to the under-equipped Confederate army.[4] The Confederate soldiers were vastly outnumbered, and fought to repulse the Union attack. Many of the Confederates were artillerymen and engineers who were acting as infantry, and had little hand to hand battle experience. The Union army was far better trained and much better organized, all of which led to the Confederate defeat.[5]

The Confederates failed to hold the oncoming Army of the Potomac back, and as a result, Custer's division captured a supply train and twenty-five guns, driving off and scattering the Confederate defenders.[6] This unique action pitted artillery without infantry support against cavalry.

Background

Lee's retreat in the Appomattox Campaign, April 2–9, 1865.

On the afternoon of April 8, 1865, four supply trains awaited Lee's army at Appomattox Station.[7] The news reached Federal Maj. Gen. George A. Custer and he then pushed his division forward with the 2nd New York Cavalry in the lead. The trains were loaded with supplies—clothes, blankets, equipment, ordnance, medical supplies, and food.[8] After moving along the wagon road beside the railroad, Custer's men approached Appomattox Station from the southeast. The Station consisted of only a few houses with a squad of Confederate cavalry guarding the trains. The Confederates then surrendered to the larger Union force. Just as the Union army was preparing to leave in the trains, artillery shells began to fall on their forces.[9]

These shells were fired by Confederate Brig. Gen. Rueben Lindsay Walker's Reserve Artillery, which had advanced to the head of Lee's column in order not to impede the movement of the Army of Northern Virginia. With Walker was an approximate force of 100 cannons, 200 baggage wagons, and the army hospital wagons. These forces were unprepared and were not expecting to meet any Union resistance.

A fourth train, which had just arrived, started back for Lynchburg in such a rush that it broke some of the couplings and left most of its cars behind. Walker drew his men into a semicircle and was supported by the only troops in the area, Talcott's Engineers (acting as infantry),[5] Brig. Gen. Martin Gary's Cavalry Brigade, and 75 to 100 artillerymen also acting as infantry. Encounters developed as Federal skirmishers pushed northeast from the Station.[2]

The Confederates were hampered by the surprise of the attack, lack of organization, and no central command, which resulted in mass confusion.[4][10] Custer's men were not sure what lay ahead and were ordered by him to charge, but the advance became disjointed probes and pushes through the unfriendly terrain toward the opposing force.[11]

Battle

Brigadier General (Brevet Major General) George Armstrong Custer
Brigadier General Reuben Lindsay Walker

Martin's battery fought aggressively on the Confederate left, continuously firing while moving forward.[4] Custer's men made two or three assaults, none very aggressive, as the Union soldiers did not want to get too close to the discharges of canister rounds from the Confederate lines.[12] Meanwhile, the Confederate batteries that were not engaged did their best to escape west towards Lynchburg or north towards Oakville. As darkness was coming on, a final concerted charge was made.[9]

Custer's men captured 25 or 30 guns.[13] There are no Confederate casualty reports, so the exact total will never be known—perhaps 100 men killed and wounded in some manner, but nearly 1,000 Confederate soldiers captured, including Brig. Gen. Young Moody, and about 100 wagons.[14] Federal casualties were 48,[15] but Union surgeons commented that they "had never treated so many extreme cases in so short a fight. The wounds were chiefly made by artillery, and were serious; many patients being badly mangled."

As the fighting at Appomattox Station subsided, elements of the 15th New York Cavalry, under the direction of Lt. Col. Augustus Root, leaped the fence and gained the Lynchburg-Richmond Stage Road and charged into the village of Appomattox Court House, capturing wagons and teamsters along the way.[16] The New Yorkers retreated back along the stage road, gathering prisoners and shooting mules as they went, thus concluding the engagements on April 8. Col. Root was killed at Appomattox Court House during his charge near the end of the battle. According to Volume 5, "Confederate Military History," by former Confederate Brigadier General Ellison Capers, Jacob David Felder of Bamberg, South Carolina, a private in Company H, Hampton's Legion, fired the fatal shot after Root had fired first at Felder and narrowly missed. [17]

Aftermath

The Battle of Appomattox Station continued steadily for four hours[18] after it had started and lasted until dusk with varying intensity, although more fighting continued in the direction of Appomattox Court House for another five hours.[4] The success of Custer's troopers on the evening of April 8, dispersing and capturing Walker's artillery and securing the Richmond-Lynchburg Stage Road, was vital—the Federals now held the high ground west of Appomattox Court House, squarely across Lee's line of march. With Lee's line of retreat blocked, his only options on April 9, 1865, were to attack or surrender. Lee elected to attack. He held a council of war the night of April 8, and determined that an assault would be made to open the road, believing that only Federal cavalry blocked the way. However, during the night parts of three Federal Corps made a forced march and were close at hand to support the Federal cavalry in the morning.[11]

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 CWSAC Report Update
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Battle Summary: Appomattox Station
  3. ↑ Davis (1959), pp 165-168.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Schroeder (2002).
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Williams (2004).
  6. ↑ Wiley (1956), p. 54.
  7. ↑ Davis (1980), p. 115.
  8. ↑ Davis (1959), pp 89-97.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Howe (1998).
  10. ↑ Wiley (1956), p. 101.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Battle of Appomattox
  12. ↑ Davis (1980), p. 152.
  13. ↑ Davis (1980), pp 143-149.
  14. ↑ Kelly (2004).
  15. ↑ Salmon, p. 489.
  16. ↑ Davis (1959), pp 173-179.
  17. ↑ Evans, Clement A., ed. Confederate Military History: A Library of Confederate States History. Volume 5. Capers, Ellison; South Carolina. 12 vols. Atlanta: Confederate Publishing Company, 1899. OCLC 833588. Retrieved January 20, 2011. pp. 568–569.
  18. ↑ Wiley (1956) p. 23)

References