Page:Civil War The 42nd Infantry Division of Bedford County Virginia.djvu/34

 Creek and Little Saylers. General Lee and General Longstreet rode back along the lines to see for themselves what was happening. They found that hundreds of their wagons had been captured and set ablaze and that General Ewell's regiment had been hit in front by Sheriman's cavalry and in back by General Wheaton's infantry and had taken General Ewell and most of his regiment prisoners along with General Kershaw and his entire regiment.

What to do now with only half of an army left–no rations, no artillery pieces and no wagon trains left was the greatest problem General Lee had ever faced. He asked that they push on to Farmville. They arrived on April 7 and found some rations there at the station, but before they could eat they found that Federal troops were bearing down, the high bridge over which they had to cross the Appomattox River had accidentally been left intact by General Mahone after the last troops had crossed on the evening before. The ration train was sent off towards Lynchburg without everyone getting fed as it would fall into Federal hands also.

On the 7th at dark a letter from General Grant reached General Lee asking him to surrender the remains of his army to avoid further bloodshed. General Longstreet said "not yet" and Lee agreed, so that night Lee's army was pushed on towards Appomattox Station twenty-two miles west of Farmville.

They marched all that night and the next day at dark they were two miles from Appomattox Court House. At the station was a trainload of rations if Lee could beat Sheridan's cavalry to them.

Another letter came from General Grant. His terms of surrender would be simple. "Peace being my great desire" his only condition was that the men surrender, take their parole and return to their homes, not to bear arms again. This was handed to General Lee at 9:00 p. m. on the 8th of April.

General Lee did not reply at once, then he found out that General Sheridan had beat him to the Station at Appomattox and stood squarely between the Confederate army and the much needed rations at the Station. Lee made a move during the night of April 8 to find out if infantry was there also to hold the rations. He sent General Gordon along with Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry to hit Sheridan and try to recapture the train. They were beaten back as Sheridan was indeed there in force. They returned back to General Lee and told him how hopeless their cause was.