|
The four pictures below are looking
across the field toward the Confederate side. |
 On
April 5 General Robert E. Lee and his army left Amelia Court House and
continued their march toward Danville, Virginia, following the line of
the Richmond and Danville Railroad. They were heading toward North
Carolina, where Lee could combine his force with that of General
Joseph E. Johnston.
General James Longstreet's corps was in the lead. The rear of
Longstreet’s column soon became separated from the head of General
Richard Anderson’s corps, which was next in line. On the morning of
April 6, observant Union cavalry moved into the gap and established a
roadblock in front of Anderson, cutting him off from Longstreet. Major
General Horatio G. Wright's Union Sixth Corps was close behind.
General Richard Ewell realized that further attacks were imminent and
decided to send the wagon train on a more northerly route. General
John B. Gordon, who was heavily pressed by Union Major General Andrew
A. Humphreys' Second Corps, followed the train. The stage was set for
the battle of Sailor's Creek.
The
battle included three separate engagements: one between Wright and
Ewell at the Hillsman farm, another between Humphreys and Gordon at
the Lockett farm, and the third between Brigadier General Wesley
Merritt and Anderson at a crossroads bounded by the Harper and
Marshall farms. |
|
The two photos to the right are the
floor of the Hillsman house. The dark spots are some of the blood
stains from the wounded. |
 |
 |
Note that the spelling of the battle
and the state park has been changed by the state of Virginia from
Sayler's to Sailor's. The spelling of the creeks remains the same. |
|
The photo below shows a
cut-away of the interior wall of the Hillsman house, revealing the
construction of the house.
 |
Below
is the Lockett House. Fighting took place around this house as can be
attested to by the numerous bullet holes that are still visible. It
was later used as a hospital after the battle at the creek below. It
is privately owned today.
 |
|
The wagons Gordon was
following became bogged down at Double Bridge, the crossing where Big
and Little Sayler's creeks converge, and his men were forced to
protect them. Making a stand just before dusk on the high ground of
the Lockett farm, 7,000 Confederates awaited the arrival of Humphreys'
16,500 man corps.
Union infantry gradually
pushed the Confederates back into the low ground near the creek. Using
the wagons as protection, Gordon's men fought hard and desperate
fight. When they saw a Union flanking column crossing farther to the
north, they were forced to retreat up the opposite slope. At
nightfall, when the fighting ended, Confederate losses were 1,700.
Union losses were 536. Humphreys' men had taken more than two hundred
of Lee’s wagons. |
