Battle of Sayler's Creek

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Battle of Sayler's Creek
Conflict	American Civil War
Date	April 6, 1865
Place	Amelia, Prince Edward & Nottoway Counties, Virginia
Result	Union victory
Combatants United States of America Confederate States of America Commanders Philip H. Sheridan Richard S. Ewell Strength II Corps VI Corps Ewell's Corps Anderson's Corps Casualties 1,500 7,000
Appomattox Campaign Lewis's Farm – White Oak Road – Dinwiddie Court House – Five Forks – Petersburg III – Sutherland's Station – Namozine Church – Amelia Springs – Sayler's Creek – Rice's Station – Cumberland Church – High Bridge – Appomattox Station – Appomattox Courthouse

The Battle of Sayler's Creek (also known as Sailor's Creek, Hillsman Farm, or Lockett Farm) was fought April 6, 1865, southwest of Petersburg, Virginia, in the final days of the American Civil War.

After Ulysses S. Grant broke the Confederate defenses at the Siege of Petersburg, Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia began a retreat in hopes of linking up with Joseph E. Johnston's army in North Carolina.

On April 6 at Sayler’s Creek, nearly one fourth of the retreating Confederate army was cut off by Union cavalry forces under Philip Sheridan and elements of the II and VI Corps. Most surrendered, including Confederate generals Richard S. Ewell, Seth M. Barton, James P. Simms, Joseph B. Kershaw, Custis Lee (Robert E. Lee's son), Dudley M. Dubose, Eppa Hunton, and Montgomery D. Corse. In a twist of irony, also present at this battle was Commander John Randolph Tucker and his naval squadron (300–400 strong) and so sailors were fighting at Sayler's Creek.

Sayler's Creek was considered the death knell of the Confederate army. Upon seeing the survivors streaming along the road, Lee exclaimed "My God, has the army dissolved?"

Naming the battle

The National Park Service and the state of Virginia both use the more recent name "Sailor's Creek" for this battle, but the historic name was "Sayler's", presumably named for a local property owner. Virtually all of the important Civil War historians (James M. McPherson, Shelby Foote, Bruce Catton, Douglas Southall Freeman, etc.) use the historic spelling.

Source

• National Park Service battle description (http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/va093.htm)

Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page) Battle_of_Sayler's_Creek (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Sayler's_Creek) version history (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Sayler's_Creek&action=history) GNU Free Documentation Lizenz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_GNU_Free_Documentation_License) CC-by-sa (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/)

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