The
Fall of Richmond, Virginia
On May 20 [1861], the Confederate Congress
voted to move the government to Richmond...With that,
Virginia's capital had become the very symbol of the
Confederacy, and the ultimate prize in a bloody war.
--Ernest B. Furgurson, Ashes of Glory
Robert E. Lee
When the Confederate government moved from Montgomery,
Alabama to Richmond, Virginia, the quiet, prosperous
Virginia state capital was transformed into a noisy,
crowded metropolis that, as Furgurson notes, was capital,
military headquarters, transportation hub, industrial
heart, prison, and hospital center of the Confederacy.
It was also a target for the Union army. In fact,
the effort for both the Union and the Confederate
armies during much of the Civil War in the east focused
on capturing or threatening the enemy's capital city.
Since the Union capital--Washington D.C.--and the
Confederate capital--Richmond--were located a mere
100 miles apart, much of the fighting raged between
these two cities. Washington was never seriously threatened
by Southern forces, but Richmond experienced more
than its share of alarms and battles.
By early spring 1865 the citizens of Richmond had
become used to the threat of the city's capture by
the Federal army whose soldiers the Richmond newspapers
described with great imagination as the vilest of
humanity. Richmond had endured some frighteningly
close chances, and its inhabitants had grown accustomed
to the sound of artillery fire from just ten miles
outside the city. Their faith in Robert E. Lee was
so complete that they knew beyond the shadow of a
doubt that he would never allow Richmond to be taken.
But the time had come for General Lee to consider
just such a necessity. He had been able to hold back
the Union forces for almost 10 months at Petersburg
until his depleted forces were worn out and his supplies
dwindled to nothing. Finally, he came to believe that
he could best serve the Confederate cause by abandoning
its capital. Furgurson records that Lee asked Lt.
Gen. John B. Gordon for his opinion as to the Confederate
Army's next steps. Gordon advised that the Confederacy
should seek peace terms. If the terms were not acceptable,
Gordon argued, the army should leave Richmond and
Petersburg and retreat south to join Gen. Joseph E.
Johnston's army in the Carolinas where their combined
forces could concentrate on defeating the Union army
under General William T. Sherman.
From a "moral and political" viewpoint,
Richmond's fall would be "a serious calamity," Lee...conceded,
but once it happened, he could prolong the war for
two more years on Virginia soil. Since the war began
he had been forced to let the enemy make strategic
plans for him, because he had to defend the capital,
but "when Richmond falls I shall be able to make them
for myself."
--Ashes of Glory
Lee had always felt constrained by the duty to defend
the Confederate capital. But abandoning it, he knew
he could move more freely. So when General Philip
Sheridan's troops overran Confederate defenses at
Five Forks on Saturday April 1, Lee made the decision
to abandon the Petersburg defenses and, in doing so,
to abandon Richmond.
Jefferson Davis
Confederate President Jefferson Davis had discussed
the probability of quitting Richmond with Lee a month
earlier, and he had already sent his wife and family
out of the city. Despite these precautions, Davis
still believed Lee could stave off disaster. The people
of Richmond knew far less of what was happening at
the Petersburg lines than Davis, and they went about
their business on Saturday ignorant of their impending
fate. Frank Lawley, the correspondent for London newspaper,
The Times, observed: "Upon the afternoon of
Saturday, the first of April, Richmond, long familiar
with the signs and sounds of war, wore its usual look
of unconscious security, and there were few persons
acquainted with the fact that Sheridan, with some
6,000 or 8,000 cavalry, supported by Warrens's corps
of infantry and artillery, was at work upon General
Lee's right, that he was opposed only by a handful
of Confederate cavalry, and that momentous events
were probably at hand."
I advise that all preparation be made
for leaving Richmond tonight.
--General Lee's telegram to President Jefferson Davis
Davis read General Lee's telegram while attending
Sunday morning church service. He immediately issued
the first orders for the Confederate government's
evacuation. Word spread across the city. Lawley reports,
"...quickly from mouth to mouth flew the sad tidings
that in a few hours Richmond's long and gallant resistance
would be over." Officially, the citizens of Richmond
did not hear anything for hours, but they could not
help but notice the fires in front of the government
offices as official documents burned. They kept asking
each other what was happening.
Crowds gathered at the Spotswood and
at General Ewell's office, a block away at Seventh
and Franklin Streets, swapping rumors, trying to confirm
them. At first those who knew had been evasive; one
man with government connections told a friend he was
"not at liberty to communicate" what he knew - but
there had been terrible fighting near Petersburg ...
"I'll tell you that I shouldn't be surprised if we
are all away from here before twenty four hours."
--Ashes of Glory
Official word of the Confederate government's departure
was finally announced at 4 o'clock. Lawley reported:
"The scene that followed baffles description. During
the long afternoon and throughout the feverish night,
on horseback, in every description of cart, carriage,
and vehicle, in every hurried train that left the
city, on canal barges, skiffs, and boats, the exodus
of officials and prominent citizens was unintermitted."
Davis refused to believe it was necessary to leave.
His train was scheduled to depart at 8:30 Sunday night.
He kept hoping that somehow Lee would send news of
a reversal of fortunes and that the government would
not have to abandon the city. Finally, at 11 o'clock,
he boarded the train and began the sad trip to Danville.
Lawley wrote: "Up to the hour of their departure from
Richmond I can testify that Mr. Davis and the three
most prominent members of his cabinet went undaunted
forth to meet the future, not without hope that General
Lee would be able to hold together a substantial remnant
of his army, and to effect a junction with General
Johnston."
All through the night preparations for fleeing from
the city kept the Richmonders busy. When the last
Confederate soldiers rode across the pontoon bridge
to catch up with Lee's troops, those left behind believed
they would return soon, to take the city back from
the Yankees. In the city small fires of document still
burned.
Richard S. Ewell and Godfrey Weitzel
Despite every effort made on the part of the few
remaining Confederate soldiers and the city's officials,
chaos ruled Richmond that night. Knowing that the
Union army was about to enter the town, and having
heard how badly the city of Columbia, South Carolina
had fared when Union soldiers discovered the stores
of whisky, Richmond's officials ordered all liquor
to be destroyed. In the need for haste, however, those
men charged with going through the stocks of every
saloon and warehouse found the most expedient way
was to smash the bottles and pour the kegs into the
gutters and down the street drains. The stench attracted
crowds. They gulped the whisky from the curbstones,
picked it up in their hats and boots, and guzzled
it before stooping for more. So the action taken to
prevent a Union army rampage started a rampage by
the city's own people.
Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell. Richmond's military commander,
was also under orders to destroy the city's tobacco,
cotton, and foodstuffs before the Yankees got to them.
To destroy the tobacco, Ewell had it moved to buildings
that he believed could burn without setting the rest
of the city on fire and asked the fire department
to stand by to keep the fire from spreading.
In a city that had been suffering from scarcity,
where high officials held "Starvation Balls," no one
believed there could be much food left to destroy.
But they were wrong. "The most revolting revelation,"
wrote LaSalle Pickett, "was the amount of provisions,
shoes and clothing which had been accumulated by the
speculators who hovered like vultures over the scene
of death and desolation. Taking advantage of their
possession of money and lack of both patriotism and
humanity, they had, by an early corner in the market
and by successful blockade running, brought up all
the available supplies with an eye to future gain,
while our soldiers and women and children were absolutely
in rags, barefoot and starving." The crowd, seeing
the commissaries filled with smoked meats, flour,
sugar, and coffee, became ugly.
Enraged, they snatched the food and clothing and
turned to the nearby shops to loot whatever else they
found. They were impossible to stop. Ewell tried,
but he had only convalescent soldiers and a few army
staff officers under his command at this point. Not
nearly enough men to bring order back to the streets.
The fires, though, grew out of control, burning the
center of the city and driving the looters away.
Embers from the street fires of official papers
and from the paper torches used by vandals drifted.
The wind picked up. Another building caught fire.
The business district caught fire. Worse, as Admiral
Raphael Semmes wrote, "The Tredegar Iron Works were
on fire, and continual explosions of loaded shell
stored there were taking place....The population was
in a great state of alarm." Lawley reported that as
he walked toward the railroad station he saw a column
of dense black smoke. Semmes had set his ironclads
on fire to keep them out of Union hands. Moments later,
the warships' arsenals exploded blowing the windows
out for two miles around, overturning tombstones,
and tearing doors from their hinges.
The Union cavalry entered town. By 7:15 Monday morning,
two guidons of the Fourth Massachussets Cavalry flew
over the capitol building. Not long after, two officers
of the 13th New York Artillery took down the little
triangular flags and ran up the great United States
flag. Union General Godfrey Weitzel sent a telegram
to General Grant: "We took Richmond at 8:15 this morning.
I captured many guns. The enemy left in great haste.
The city is on fire in two places. Am making every
effort to put it out. The people received us with
enthusiastic expressions of joy."
Weitzel ordered his troops to put out the fire.
The city's two fire engines worked, bucket brigades
were formed. Threatened buildings were pulled down
to create firebreaks. Five hours later the wind finally
shifted, and they began to bring it under control.
All or part of at least 54 blocks were destroyed,
according to Furgurson. Weitzel wrote "The rebel capitol,
fired by men placed in it to defend it, was saved
from total destruction by soldiers of the United States,
who had taken possession." And the city rested.
Abraham Lincoln
At City Point a few miles downstream, U.S. President
Abraham Lincoln had learned of Richmond's capture
and was eager to visit the city. Rear Admiral David
Dixon Porter arranged for a grand trip upstream for
his president on Tuesday. His gunboats, flags flying,
lined the river and the sailors cheered as Lincoln,
in Porter's flagship, the Malvern, sailed upstream.
The trip, however, was not as smooth as the admiral
would have liked. The Malvern encountered sunken
Confederate boats in the James River. He transferred
the president into a barge, which was tugged upstream.
But then the tug encountered another Confederate obstruction.
The ropes were thrown off the tug and the sailors
leaned into their oars. They pulled against the current
until they came to the rapids. The sailors jumped
into the river, freed the boat, and headed toward
the first safe landing spot they could find.
The barge landed at Rocketts, two miles from their
destination, Capitol Square. No Union soldiers met
them, but those on the shore recognized the tall man.
A crowd, many recently freed slaves, formed as they
strode along the streets. Recalled one contemporary:
"Every window was crowded with heads. But it was a
silent crowd. There was something oppressive in those
thousands of watchers without a sound, either of welcome
or hatred. I think we would have welcomed a yell of
defiance." Others were exuberant, laughing, yelling.
They tried to grab Lincoln's hand and kiss his boots.
The sailors formed a guard around him. Admiral Porter
and his men were anxious; the crowd could crush his
president or an assassin could come close without
ever being seen. The sailors cleared the way with
bayonets until, at last, a cavalry party met them
and escorted the president to what had been the Confederate
Executive Mansion.
Any one of many kinds of fools could
have taken a pot shot at Lincoln that day.
--Carl Sandburg
Soon afterward Lincoln set out on a sightseeing
tour of the burned-out, sad-looking Confederate capital
with General Weitzel as his guide and a large cavalry
escort to protect him. He visited Libby Prison and
Castle Thunder, the two prisons where not long before
Union soldiers had suffered. They rode to Camp Lee
where the U.S. Colored Troops had set up their camp.
They drove around the burned out business district.
Weitzel asked President Lincoln for guidance: how
should he treat the people of the city? "If I were
in your place," Lincoln told him, " I'd let 'em up
easy, let 'em up easy."
After the afternoon tour, the presidential party
returned to Porter's flagship, to Admiral Porter's
relief.
Word of Richmond's fall had been telegraphed across
the United States. Newspaperman George Townsend wrote,
"This town is the rebellion. It is all that
we have directly striven for; quitting it, the Confederate
leaders have quitted their sheet-anchor, their roof-tree,
their abiding hope. Its history is the epitome of
the whole contest, and to us, shivering our thunderbolts
against it for more than four years, Richmond is still
a mystery." To honor the long struggle to take the
Confederate capital, an official order was given.
And so, at noon, while Lincoln toured the city, a
one-hundred-gun artillery salute was fired at all
military posts, arsenals and naval bases.
Five hard-fought days later General Lee and the
Army of Northern Virginia surrendered to U.S. Grant.
And four days after that, Lincoln was assassinated.
Johnston surrendered his army to Sherman on April
18. Lee had gambled that the Confederacy could survive
the fall of its capital--that leaving Richmond would
offer him a freedom of movement that could spell hope.
But hope died when Richmond fell.
Sources:
- Furgurson, Ernest B. Ashes
of Glory, Richmond at War. Knopf, 1996.
- Hoehling, A.A. and Mary Hoehling.
The Day Richmond Died. Madison Books, 1991.
- Kimmel, Stanley.Mr. Davis's
Richmond. Coward-McCann, Inc., 1958.
- The [London] Times. April
25, 1865.
- Sandburg, Carl. Abraham
Lincoln: The Prairie Years and the War Years.
Harcourt Brace, 1989.
- Townsend, George. Campaigns
of a Non-Combatant.Time-Life Books, 1981.
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