"BLACK THURSDAY" The 160th Sailor's Creek April 4-6, 2025
April 1865. The once-formidable Army of Northern Virginia, battle-worn and exhausted, was on the march. After enduring months of brutal trench warfare around Petersburg and Richmond, General Robert E. Lee was forced to abandon his entrenched defenses, leading his men westward into the rugged Virginia countryside. Lee's aim was clear: to unite his forces with General Joseph E. Johnston’s army in North Carolina. Together, they hoped to muster enough strength to strike the advancing Union forces in detail, securing one final, decisive victory to prolong the Confederate cause.
But Lee’s hopes were met by unyielding pursuit. The Federal forces, buoyed by the recent fall of Petersburg and Richmond, sensed the end of the war was near. General Ulysses S. Grant’s army surged forward, relentlessly pursuing the fleeing Confederates. Lee’s retreating columns faced attacks from all sides—Phil Sheridan’s cavalry, the 2nd, 5th, and 6th Corps of the Army of the Potomac, and Edward Ord’s Army of the James to the south. It was a tightening noose, and Lee’s army was being squeezed from every direction.
April 6, 1865: The Day of Reckoning
On April 6, Lee’s army, desperate and nearly broken, marched westward toward Farmville, where food supplies awaited. The Confederates had initially aimed to pass through Jetersville, but a rapid advance by Union troops had blocked the way. Forced to find another route, the Confederates crossed Flat Creek, with Lee’s men barely maintaining their cohesion under pressure.
But as they moved across the narrow valley of Sailor's Creek, disaster struck. The Federal 2nd Corps, under General Andrew Humphreys, attacked with brutal force, breaking into the rear of the Confederate column. Lee’s disjointed army, stretched thin from the march and weakened by hunger, was ill-prepared to withstand a sudden, organized assault. Multiple clashes erupted along Sailor’s Creek, each more desperate than the last. Confederate forces, overwhelmed and isolated, attempted to mount a defense, but the Union troops, sensing victory, were relentless.
“My God! Has the Army Dissolved?”
The chaos along Sailor’s Creek was both tragic and decisive. In a day filled with confusion, Confederate units found themselves encircled, unable to regroup or retreat. Major General Richard Ewell, commanding a Confederate corps, was surrounded and forced to surrender along with several thousand of his men. Not far away, John Gordon’s corps suffered a similar fate, as did elements of John B. Gordon’s and George Pickett’s divisions. Pickett, infamous for leading the doomed charge at Gettysburg, once again found himself on the losing side of history.
Witnessing the collapse of his once-proud army, Lee could scarcely believe his eyes. He is said to have exclaimed, “My God! Has the army dissolved?” It was a moment of bitter realization for the Confederate commander: the backbone of his army was broken, and its remnants were scattering in defeat. April 6th, later dubbed “Black Thursday” by the Confederates, had inflicted losses that Lee could not recover from—nearly a quarter of his remaining forces were captured or killed in the fighting.
The Aftermath: A Path to Surrender
The Battle of Sailor’s Creek marked the largest surrender of Confederate troops in the Civil War and sealed the fate of the Army of Northern Virginia. Lee’s hopes of uniting with Johnston’s army in North Carolina were dashed, as the remnants of his force continued westward in disarray. By April 9, Lee, now encircled near Appomattox Court House, recognized that further resistance was futile. The Confederate general met with Ulysses S. Grant to discuss terms of surrender, officially ending his campaign and the Civil War in Virginia.
The battle was more than a tactical defeat—it was the shattering of a dream. The Southern cause, which had sustained Lee’s men for four brutal years, was now irreparably lost. Sailor’s Creek not only broke the Confederate army’s strength but also symbolized the broader disintegration of the Confederacy itself, as the final collapse loomed just days away.
Remembering Sailor’s Creek
Today, Sailor’s Creek Battlefield State Park preserves the memory of this decisive moment, where the once-mighty Army of Northern Virginia made its last, desperate stand. It is a haunting reminder of the courage, tragedy, and finality that marked the closing days of the Civil War. Sailor’s Creek remains a testament to the relentless pursuit by Federal forces and the stubborn resistance of a Confederate army fighting to the bitter end, even as hope slipped away.