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| The Confederates who fought to the bitter end were determined to achieve Southern Independence. This determined looking un- identified Confederate is wearing a plain uniform typical of those of the late war period. (Library of Congress, Liljenquist Collection |
With the Confederate failure to
breakout at Fort Stedman, Grant increased pressure on the Southern defenses all
up and down the siege line. The 10th Louisiana returned to its position at the right center
of the defenses. The week following the Battle of Fort Stedman, the Federal
pressure was ramped up until it reached the crescendo of a great attack on the
Confederate flank – The Battle of Five Forks – in which Gordon’s Second Corps
did not participate. Grant mounted the pressure on all parts of the Confederate
line to cement them in place, and on March 29 sent Sheridan’s cavalry,
Humphreys’ 2nd Corps and
Warren’s 5th Corps – 50,000
men – to cut Lee’s last supply line, the South
Side Railroad. Sheridan was in overall command. Lee countered by sending Major General George
Pickett with about 10,000 infantry and cavalry to hold the vital strategic
intersection of Five Forks at all hazards. If Five Forks fell to the enemy, not
only would his last major supply line be threatened, but also his last avenue
of retreat. The bluecoats maneuvered into position with the battles of Quaker
Road, March 29; White Oak Road and Dinwiddie Court House on March 31. Then on April
1, while Pickett was absent at a shad bake, Sheridan directed Warren’s 5th Corps to attack Pickett’s Five Forks position
with 22,000 men on April 1. The Confederate position was turned with the loss
of 2,000 prisoners to 633 casualties for the Federals.
On the
next day, April 2, Grant ordered a major assault all up and down the
Confederate line. The seizure of the Southside Station severed the railroad
link and A.P. Hill was killed in the fight. The 10th Louisiana was at Graves’ Salient and repulsed the
assault on their part of the line, but it was pierced in three other places. It
was also on that day that the last man of the 10th Louisiana was killed in the war. Colonel Waggaman and Major Powell were preparing to go to
Sunday Mass. Waggaman asked Powell if they had time to make it,
looking at his watch and seeing it was 10:30, Powell replied, “Hardly. Unless
we leave now.” It was at that very moment that that the Federal assault
commenced and Powell was struck in the head by a sharpshooter’s bullet. He was
the last man of the regiment killed in the war. The
Second Corps was ordered to hold the line but not try to retake any lost
positions. The Louisianians were holding 200 yards of the line and endured a
fierce storm of shot and shell for the next 22-hours. To test the strength of
the enemy assault, occasionally a man would hold up a hat on a stick to see how
many times bullets pierced it. Once again Waggaman’s men were covering the
retreat of the Army of Northern Virginia at great cost to themselves.
Lee notified President Davis that he had to evacuate Richmond and
Petersburg so that the government could move to Danville, Virginia. He then
issued orders to the some 58,000 men he had scattered through the Northern
Virginia region to rendezvous at Amelia Court House on the Richmond and
Danville railroad line. He planned to have rations and ammunition there to
replenish the army and then march to North Carolina to unite with Johnston’s Army of Tennessee. But the
rations were not there when the army arrived and Lee was forced to send foraging
parties out to gather food for the army, so it could continue south.
This gave Grant and the Army of the Potomac and the Army of the James, about
76,000 men, a chance to catch up with Lee, who had a one day lead.
Sheridan and the Federal cavalry also started a running fight with the
Confederate rear guard. That rear guard included the Louisiana brigade, and the
remnants of the 10th Louisiana Infantry.
At 1 o’clock in the morning of April
3, the 10th Louisiana finally got orders to evacuate and catch up
with the rest of the army at Ameilia Court House. They got across the Appomattox
River and then took the Woodpecker Road toward Amelia. On April 5 they re-crossed
the Appomattox River and just passed through Amelia Court House, there being no
rations, and headed for Burksville. The next day, April 6, the regiment
skirmished with the Federals on the road to Burksville. At one point they
doubled back to stop the enemy while the rest of the army moved on, then
retrace their steps to catch up with the rest. The regiment then defended a bridge
and at dusk, supported one artillery piece on the road while the rest of the
army continued to retreat to Farmville. At 9 o’clock they moved out to rejoin
the army at High Bridge, rest and then continue marching and reached Farmville
by daylight of April 7. At Farmville they found 40,000 bread rations, 80,0000
of meal waiting for them and begin issuing the food. The Federals, however,
arrived and Lee had to send the train on to Lynchburg, but it
was captured the next day at Pamplin Depot. The Confederates then crossed the
Appomattox River again at High Bridge, and hoped to delay
the Federals by destroying the four bridges there, but one was left and the
enemy also crossed. They then built entrenchments three miles north of
Farmville and fought off enemy attacks until the supply train could safely
pass.
In spite of this discouraging
retreat, many in the Southern army were not ready to surrender. Colonel
Pendleton of the 15th Louisiana wrote to his wife on April 6,
noting, “Our Army is not whipped – indeed it is strong & ready to fight
to-day . . . .” Pendleton was likely commanding the 10th Louisiana as well as the 15th. The two
fragments of each regiment had been consolidated to form Company D of the
unofficial Louisiana battalion. Waggaman was commanding the brigade and Pendleton would
have been senior to Lieutenant Colonel Monier. But the whole army was
dwindling every day, losing men in each skirmish. The 10th Louisiana had lost 12 men on April 2 and 3 at
Petersburg, including one man killed and 11 others captured. Private Peter
Shery of the Confederates States Rangers was among
those taken captive. On April 6, three more men were captured, including
Private Joseph L. Strange of Company K. Then on April 7, an additional six 10th
Louisiana men were captured at Farmville, including
Private Maxile Marcantel of the Confederate States Rangers. Lee had his men do another night march to reach
Appomattox Court House, the next place they hoped to find more food rations. It
was 38-miles away.
The march to Appomattox was relatively uneventful. But on
April 8, the Army of Northern Virginia found that their supply train had been
captured and Sheridan’s cavalry had arrived there before them. In addition,
part of his artillery and wagons were captured that day at the Battle of
Appomattox Station. Grant was now sending Lee notes inviting him to surrender. Lee decided to make one last desperate attempt to
break through the Federal cavalry in his front. Lee ordered Gordon’s infantry, Fitzhugh Lee’s cavalry and Long’s
artillery to assault the Federals in front of them at daylight of April 9.
Gordon positioned Evans’ division on the left, Walker’s in the center and
Grimes’ on the right. Fitzhugh Lee would be to Grimes’ right. They had,
altogether, about 5,400 men to make the
last charge of the Army of Northern Virginia. Taking part in the charge was the
decimated Louisiana brigade, now down to just 178 men, including the small
fragment of the 10th Louisiana. At daylight the Louisianians
gave one last rebel yell as they charged toward the formidable Federal line.
The Yankees were dismayed. They thought the Confederates would surrender at any
time. Nobody wanted to be the last man killed in the war. Fitzhugh Lee’s cavalry swept around the
Sheridan’s left flank, while Evans, Walker, Grimes and Long’s artillery
launched the frontal assault. “I take especial pride
in recording the fact that this last charge of the war was made by the footsore
and starving men of my command with a spirit worthy of the best days of Lee's army,” Gordon said.
Surprisingly,
the Federal breastworks were carried, two cannons captured and a battle flag captured after a Louisiana
infantryman bayoneted the color bearer. After they had swept Sheridan’s cavalry
aside, they were met by a bone-chilling sight – a solid phalanx of Federal
infantry. The 5th Corps, now
commanded by Griffin, who had replaced the sacked Warren, was now up and in
support of the cavalry. Gordon brought up the artillery and the infantry,
opened fire and the combination of the two stopped the advance of the
bluecoats. But the massive numbers were quickly flanking the Confederates on
both flanks. Longstreet’s corps was also being assaulted. “My troops were still
fighting, furiously fighting in nearly every direction, when the final note
from General Lee reached me. It
notified me that there was a flag of truce between General Grant
and himself, stopping hostilities, and that I could communicate that fact to
the commander of the Union forces in my front.”
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