BGuthrie Photos: VA -- Lee's Retreat -- Sayler's Creek Battlefield Historical State Park

VA -- Lee's Retreat -- Sayler's Creek Battlefield Historical State Park:

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Description of Pictures: Including a tour of the Hillsman House with park superintendent Chris Calkins.

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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. SAYLER_130920_017.JPG: Hillsman House Lee's Retreat -- April 6, 1865 -- Union forces assembled along this ridge while Confederate troops prepared on the opposite slope. Federal forces crossed Little Sailor's Creek for a fierce battle which compelled many Southerners to surrender. The house served as a hospital for both armies. Next Stop Marshall's Crossroads 1.3 miles
2. SAYLER_130920_018.JPG: Overton/Hillsman House War's Horror Knocks at the Door As night began to fall here on April 6, 1865, the hard fought battles of Little Sailor's Creek and the crossroads near the Marshall Farm draw to a close. Federal surgeons work by the little natural light that's still available. They are inside the main doorways trying to save as many of the wounded as possible from both armies. Hospital stewards prepare men for surgery and assist with the gruesome task of amputating limbs, bandaging wounds, and trying to comfort the wounded. This house, built by Moses Overton in the early 1770s, is occupied by the James Moses Hillsman family. Hillsman, a former Captain in the 44th Virginia Infantry, was captured at Spotsylvania in May, 1864, while commanding a detachment of sharpshooters, and is still a prisoner of war as battle rages across his farm. His wife Lucy Blanton Hillsman and mother Martha Overton Hillsman, two children and eight servants are forced to reside in the basement warming kitchen during the fight. The home will be used as the Sixth Corps field hospital. The family will experience the grim realities of war as the floor in the entry hall becomes soaked with blood and they hear the cries of the wounded and dying above. Once surgeries are complete, the amputated limbs will be thrown outside and men are either carried outdoors to recover or placed in one of the house's four rooms. Before evacuating Hillsman's house, the Federals will bury own dead temporarily on the farm until removed to Poplar Grove National Cemetery in Petersburg, Virginia. The Confederate dead will be left unburied. For these men there will be no glory in war. Former Hillsman slaves will bury them in mass, unmarked graves on the battlefield. Afterwards, Lucy Hillsman will leave this house with her family, never to return. One of the wounded men, Lt. George Peck of the 2nd Rhode Island Infantry, described what he saw when taken into the house. "An hour later it began to rain, so Private Lincoln went to the house to secure, if possible, my removal thither, for every officer had been quartered there as soon as he was brought in. He returned with a litter on which I was taken to the house. I was then placed on the floor of a room in which there were two beds each occupied by two severely wounded officers, while in the third corner, on the floor, were at least a half dozen more. The only place found for me was in front of these beds; my head so close beside the hall doorway, where stood the operating table, with surgeons working the entire night, my body forming the bound of a passage - way to the kitchen door in the fourth corner, whence people continually passed and repassed. Yet when my wet clothes had been removed ... and myself wrapped in a couple of army blankets, I slept quietly, happily, until daylight."
3. SAYLER_130920_032.JPG: Battle of Sailors (Sayler's) Creek This is the Hillsman House, used by the Unionists as a hospital in the engagement of April 6, 1865. From the west side of the creek the Confederates charged and broke through the Union infantry, but were stopped by the batteries along the hillside here. A mass surrender followed, including a corps commander, Gen. R. S. Ewell, several other generals, many colonels, about 7000 rank and file, and several hundred wagons. It was the largest unstipulated surrender of the war.(over)
4. SAYLER_130920_039.JPG: Battle of Sailors (Sayler's) Creek At the same time another engagement took place two miles north, on the main Sailor's (Sayler's) Creek, where Gen. John B. Gordon repulsed pursuing Union Troops. He lost most of his wagons but saved the majority of his men. At this time Gen. Robert E. Lee was retreating from Petersburg toward Danville, closely followed by Gen. Grant. Lee lost half of his troops in these two memorable rearguard actions, which foreshadowed the surrender at Appomattox three days later.(over)
5. SAYLER_130920_166.JPG: Chris Caulkins
6. SAYLER_130920_275.JPG: Blood stains
7. SAYLER_130920_342.JPG: Chris Calkins
8. SAYLER_130920_385.JPG: The Final Clash: With Fate Against Them -- Sailor's Creek Battlefield State Park -- "There goes a chivalrous fellow. Let's give him three cheers." Near this site were positioned Confederate forces commanded by General Joseph B. Kershaw. They were mainly from Mississippi and Georgia and were slightly dug in behind hastily built rail brestworks. In the final moments of the battle, Union cavalry, led by Colonel Peter Stagg, and Wheaton's infantry attacked Kershaw's right and rear. Retiring some 400 yards from this point to the rear, General Kershaw was eventually forced to surrender his command. Taken prisoner and eventually turned over to Union cavalry General George A. Custer's headquarters, the next morning the Northern cavalryman would serenade his "guests" with tunes like "Dixie." General Kershaw remarked as Custer left the next morning, "There goes a chivalrous fellow. Let's give him three cheers." The Federal band responded now with "Bonnie Blue Flag" which was followed by a chorus of "Rebel Yells."
9. SAYLER_130920_394.JPG: Assaulting the Confederate Battle Line -- Sailor's Creek Battlefield Historical State Park -- "The men pressed forward, holding their fire with wonderful self control till they were in plain site of the enemy almost face to face." As the Federal troops realigned themselves after the creek crossing, and because of the shorter distance General Frank Wheaton's 1st Division had to cover in doing so, they would be the first to make contact with General Richard S. Ewell's entrenched Confederate forces along the ridge above you. As the Union soldiers neared their opponents, they were told not to "open fire until within two hundred yards or less of the enemy." When Wheaton's men were within 100 yards, the nearing Federals began "showing handkerchiefs as an invitation to the men to surrender." To this a Confederate officer responded by calling out, "Ready!...the men rose, all together, like a piece of mechanism, kneeling on their right knees and their faces set with an expression that meant everything Aim!' The musket barrels fell to an almost perfect horizontal line leveled about the knees of the advancing line. "Fire!" The first Confederate volley "swallowed up" the advance Federal line, with the second line wavering and finally breaking by the repeating volleys" Two Union regiments, the 2nd Rhode Island and 49th Pennsylvania, were involved in this retreat to the creek.
10. SAYLER_130920_407.JPG: Crossing Little Sailor's Creek The Federal Army's Attack, 6:00 p.m. April 6, 1865 -- Sailor's Creek Battlefield Historical State Park -- "We found a stream of muddy water a dozen feet wide..." "The colonel's clear voice sounded ‘ATTENTION'....Descending the hill; ‘Prepare to cross a marsh!' was passed along the line....Three or four minutes later we found ourselves confronted by a hedge so high and so dense, it was impossible to see what was beyond. There was an involuntary pause-but only for an instant. Glancing around to find some available opening, I discovered the colors, some twenty paces on the left, had advanced about a yard and a half beyond the obstruction, and that every one was in their neighborhood had clustered around the breach thus made....Thinking I could clear a passage for my own men, I thrust my hands into and through the hedge, spread them apart and found a stream of muddy water a dozen feet wide…so with the exclamation ‘Company G, this way,' I boldly jumped for the middle of the stream expecting to land knee-deep in water. I went through the hedge and struck where I expected, but immersed above the sword belt, and with feet firmly imbedded it was impossible to stir them in the least. Thoroughly startled at the idea that perchance I had jumped into a Virginia quicksand, I seized hold of the further bank and held on tightly. Finding I did not sink, I began working my feet gently to the right and left, soon extricated them from the mud and then clambered out...." Around 6:00 pm…the Union army began its forward movement from the high ground around the Hillsman farm house. Being formed into two lines of battle, they soon reached Little Sailor's Creek, now flooded to the depth of two to four feet. Placing their weapons and ammunition boxes over their shoulders, they crossed over and, as General J. Warren Keifer noted "many fell on the plains and in the water, and those who reached the west bank were in more or less disorder."
11. SAYLER_130920_433.JPG: Victory or Death The Last Stand of the Savannah Volunteer Guard -- Sailor's Creek Battlefield Historical State Park -- The 18th Georgia Battalion, acting as a heavy artillery unit was originally formed in 1802 and served at the coastal defenses around Charleston, South Carolina. Moved to Virginia in May of 1864, it guarded the Richmond & Danville Railroad Bridge over the Appomattox River. Commanded by Major William S. Basinger at Sailor's Creek, the unit mustered eighty-five men who would serve in General George Washington Custis Lee's division. Placed on the right of his battle line and next to the Rice-Deatonville Road, their uniforms bore the scarlet markings of artillery and their silk battle flag had embroidered around the center "Victory or Death." As the Federal infantry reached the crest of the ridge in their assault, Sergeants Richard Millen and Simeon Morton tried to rally the Guards around the battalion flag; both men were shot down. Soldiers of the 121st New York Infantry were those who came in contact with the Guards. Private Warren C. Dockum of Company H, is credited with capturing their flag. The unit lost 30 men killed, 22 wounded, with a loss of 61% of men engaged. In the 1870's the Guards flag was returned to the surviving men, a member writing, "it was lost without dishonor and recovered without humiliation". At Appomattox, 1 officer and 16 men surrendered, 8 of which were black musicians and cooks.
12. SAYLER_130920_444.JPG: Marshall's Crossroads Lee's Retreat -- April 6, 1865 -- Union cavalry found Confederate infantry posted here along the road to Rice's Depot. While others fought along Little Sailor's Creek at Hillsman's farm, the horse soldiers attacked this portion of Lee's army which eventually withdrew from the field or were captured. Next Stop Lockett House 4.9 miles
13. SAYLER_130920_454.JPG: Lockett House Battle of Sailor's Creek -- Lee's Retreat -- Here, around the home of James S. Lockett, desperate fighting occurred near sundown on April 6, 1865, when the Union corps commanded by Gen. Andrew A. Humphreys almost overwhelmed Gen. John B. Gordon's Confederate corps. The house, just across the road, still bears the scars of battle. Gordon's corps, which served as the rear guard for the Army of Northern Virginia, also protected the Confederate wagon train. To avoid the fighting near the Hillsman House, the train was rerouted first to the northwest and then south on this road. At the bottom of this hill, where double bridges crossed Little Sailor's Creek and Big Sailor's Creek, the wagon train bogged down. Humphreys first drove Gordon from his position here then pressed him across the creek. By the end of the battle, as the sun was setting, the Confederates had lost some 1,700 men – most of them as prisoners – to the Federals' 536. The remnant of Gordon's corps continued its march to Farmville, but about 300 wagons and seventy ambulances fell into Union hands. After the fighting ended for the night, the Lockett House became a field hospital. Gen. Robert E. Lee, after witnessing the rout of his army here at the Hillsman House and at the Marshall Farm with eight generals and about 7,700 men captured, exclaimed, "My God! Has the army been dissolved?"
14. SAYLER_130920_461.JPG: Lockett House Lee's Retreat -- April 6, 1865 -- While Confederate troops were attempting to cross Sailor's Creek on the bridges below, the fighting between the two forces began here and continued into the bottomlands. After the battle, James Lockett's bullet-ridden house was then pressed into service as a field hospital. Next Stop Double Bridges .7 miles
15. SAYLER_130920_471.JPG: Sailor's Creek. Here Lee fought his last battle April 6, 1865. Ewell almost won a great victory here but was overwhelmed by Sheridan.
16. SAYLER_130920_480.JPG: Bullet holes
17. SAYLER_130920_527.JPG: Double Bridges Lee's Retreat -- April 6, 1865 -- In this ground, the Confederate column and wagon train became bogged down while crossing Sailor's Creek. The Union forces in pursuit then assailed the Southerners and captured a large number of prisoners and wagons before darkness put an end to the fighting. Next Stop Rice's Depot 5.1 miles
Wikipedia Description: Battle of Sayler's Creek
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Creek – Rice's Station – High Bridge – Cumberland Church – 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, as part of the Appomattox Campaign, in the final days of the American Civil War.

After Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant broke the Confederate defenses at the Siege of Petersburg, Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia began a retreat in hopes of linking up with Gen. 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 Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan and elements of the II and VI Corps. Two Confederate divisions fought VI Corps along the creek. The Confederates attacked but were driven back. (Union artillery deployed at the Hillsman Farm played a key role in this repulse.) The Union cavalry cut through the right of the Confederate lines. Most Confederates surrendered, including generals Richard S. Ewell, Seth M. Barton, James P. Simms, Joseph B. Kershaw, Custis Lee (Robert E. Lee's son), Dudley M. Du Bose, Eppa Hunton, and Montgomery D. Corse. 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. Farther away, II Corps pushed back John Brown Gordon, who had mistakenly been on a different road.

Sayler's Creek was considered the death knell of the Army of Northern Virginia. 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 Commonwealth 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. Many prominent Civil War historians (James M. McPherson, Shelby Foote, Bruce Catton, Douglas Southall Freeman, etc.) use the historic spelling. Published in the early 1900s, the New International Encyclopedia calls the battle "Sailor's Creek".
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Featured Folk: Some of the people here can also be seen on other pages on this site.
- Calkins, Chris appears on:
  - 2013_VA_Saylers_CreekVC VA -- Lee's Retreat -- Sayler's Creek Battlefield Historical State Park -- Visitor Center
  - 2012_VA_CWT_White_Oak_120607 CWT Annual Conference (2012) in Richmond, VA -- White Oak Road and Five Forks tour
  - 2012_VA_CWT_Group_1206 CWT Annual Conference (2012) in Richmond, VA -- Miscellaneous shots
  - 2003_VA_CWPT_Panel_030424 CWPT Annual Conference (2003) in Richmond, VA -- Lunch: And panel discussion
  - 2003_VA_CWPT_Retreat_030426 CWPT Annual Conference (2003) in Richmond, VA -- Tour group: Lee's Retreat
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