SIGNIFICANT DATES IN LEE'S LIFE
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January 5th, 1865. There is widespread talk of defeat in the South, Lee continues to make optimistic statements however, urging the South to continue the struggle.
January 16th, 1865. The Confederate Senate passes a resolution that Robert E. Lee should be appointed as the Commander-In-Chief of the armies of the Confederacy. The vote was passed by a margin of fourteen to two.
January 18th, 1865. The Senate urges Lee to accept the position of Commander-In-Chief, in addition to commanding The Army of Northern Virginia.
January 19th, 1865. General Lee accepts the position offered to him, albeit reluctantly. The appointment was an intelligent move on the part of the Confederacy - but it has come far too late.
January 25th, 1865. The siege lines at Petersburg remain locked in stalemate.
January 27th, 1865. Lee complains to Richmond, blaming his pitiful ration supply as the leading cause of desertion amongst his troops. Lee also writes to the governor of South Carolina (Who has been requesting troops to stop Sherman taking Charleston) saying... " Should our whole coast fall in the possession of our enemies, with our people true, firm, and united, the war could be continued and our purpose accomplished. As long as our armies are unsubdued and sustained, the Confederacy is safe.". Unfortunately, the Southern armies are neither of these two points.
January 31st, 1865. President Davis recommends Lee's appointment as Commander-In-Chief to the Senate. Lee is awarded the title officially - even though it is a largely empty title.
Febuary 5th, 1865. Major action occurs at Petersburg for the first time this year. The Union sends II and V Corps out to occupy the Boydton Plank Road, this extends the Union lines even further to the south and west. The Confederates can only mount light opposition - The Army of Northern Virginia has suffered badly during the long winter in the trenches. The average soldier is exisiting on about a pint of oatmeal a day. There is widespread disease and hunger amongst the Confederate soldiers. The situation is so intolerable that nearly 3,000 soldiers desert in a five week period. Lee is furious that his attempts to procure more supplies have been blocked. Lee comments to his son Custis that Congress seems only too happy to chew tobacco and eat peanuts while his men starve.
February 7th, 1865. Lee's men manage to force the Union troops back from the Boydton Plank Road - the situation is not much improved however, Lee has a mere 46,000 men to defend roughly 37 miles of trenches. Many of his men are also very ill.
February 9th, 1865. General Lee attempts to persuade President Davis to offer amnesty to any deserter who returns to his regiment within 30 days.
February 18th, 1865. Robert E. Lee adds his endorsement to the idea of arming the negro slaves to bolster the Confederate troop numbers.
February 22nd, 1865. General Lee begins to plan what will become his last campaign. It is now obvious that he must make some sort of decisive military action soon, or risk becoming trapped between the Union armies of Grant and Sherman. Lee further assigns Joseph E. Johnston to the Department of South Carolina.
March 2nd, 1865. Lee writes to the Union commander, Grant, and proposes that they arrange a meeting.
March 24th, 1865. General Lee has less than 35,000 men left fit for duty. He now admits to himself that defeat at Petersburg is a certainty and thus orders General John B. Gordon to select part of the Union line and attempt to break through.
March 25th, 1865. General Gordon makes his bid for freedom during the early hours of the morning. A handful of Confederates (who may be mistaken for deserters) cross the Union lines near the Union held Fort Stedman. The Confederates silence the Union pickets and begin to hurriedly demolish the Union defensive constructions. Once they have cleared a large enough area, Gordon sends his attack forward. The Confederates manage to seize the fort's battery positions and spread out to occupy more than a 1,000 yards of the Union front. Unfortunately, the Confederates spend too much time trying to demolish more defense constructions, and thus are unprepared for the Union counter-attack. Gordon's troops are driven back. The Confederates suffer loses of 4,000 - many of whom are forced to surrender after finding their retreat path being viciously covered by Union shot and shell.
March 26th, 1865. Grant extends the Union lines at Petersburg. His plan is to cut off any attempt at retreat Lee may make and to box in Lee's army - which is by now the Confederacy's last major army.
March 28th, 1865. General Lee makes desperate plans, he is hoping to break out of his current position and join up with Johnston for a last stand in North Carolina. The situation is not favourable, Lee has manged to build up his army somewhat, but he still has fewer than 50,000 - his force is currently facing about 125,000 Union troops, with Sherman's army closing in on him as well.
March 29th, 1865. General Lee's nephew, Major-General Fitzhugh Lee, leads the Confederate Cavalry to Five Forks to support Pickett's division against the inevitable Union assault around Lee's left flank.
March 30th, 1865. The Confederates manage to repulse the Union advance near Five Forks. There has been a grave error however, Lee has had to concentrate 10,000 men to this position on his far left flank - this has left his dwindling army fatally overexteneded.
March 31st, 1865. Pickett's force continue to drive back Sheridan's dismounted Union cavalry. Their success is short lived however, as they are forced to retreat during the night as large columns of Union infantry begin to arrive. Pickett is, wisely, unwilling to face odds of 5 to 1 against him.
April 1st, 1865. Pickett's men at Five Forks find themselves attacked by Sheridan's cavalry in fornt and Warren's infantry corps in the flank. Badly outnumbered, the Confederate force is crushed - nearly half of the Confederates are taken prisoner in the ensuing rout. Ironically, both Pickett and Fitzhugh Lee are absent from their troops at the time, they are attending a fish-fry while the assault is underway. Lee would never forgive Pickett for his crucial absence from the field.
April 2nd, 1865. Just before dawn, in a thick fog, The Army of the Potomac launches a massive assault all along the lines at Petersburg. The thinly stretched Confederate defense is broken almost all along the line. The exception to the breakthroughs being the Confederate positions at Forts Gregg and Baldwin, who manage to hold out until midday. During the Union onslaught, Confederate Lieutenant-General , A.P. Hill ,is killed. The Army of Northern Virginia abandons their long held positions and head for a new concentration point at Amelia Court House, 40 miles west of Richmond. Richmond itself is abandoned amid scenes of wild panic and looting. The center of Richmond is burnt to the ground and the James River squadron blows up its surviving ironclads before retreating as well. After all these months, Union troops finally advance into Petersburg and occupy the town - Grant orders his men not to fire on the retreating Confederate columns, allowing them to withdraw peacefully.
April 3rd, 1865. Union infantry march into the Confederate capital of Richmond and unfurl the US flag over the town. President Davis and most of the Confederate Cabinet are onboard a special train heading for Danville, Virgnia. General Lee's troops hurry westwards, a long line of men, many in disorder, who know the war has been lost.
April 4th, 1865. Grant's army marches along a parrallel course to Lee's, thus preventing Lee from joining Johnston's forces. Meanwhile in Richmond, President Lincoln tours the fallen Confederate capital to the cheers of thousands of Union troops and Richmond Negroes.
April 5th, 1865. The Army of Northern Virginia concentrates at Amelia Court House. Lee is expecting to find 350,000 rations at the location, he had previously ordered these supplies to be moved here from richmond on Sunday - They are not here. Later it will be learnt that the War Department had queried Lee's order but the message had never reached Lee and subsequently the supplies were never dispatched.
April 6th, 1865. General Lee resumes his retreat. His army becomes divided when Ewell halts his men to allow wagon trains to pass by allowing them to escape from Union raiders. Ewell, as a result of the halt, becomes cut off at Sayler's Creek. Ewell orders his troops to fight their way through, but the men fail to respond to the order. Ewell is compelled to surrender - Lee loses almost a third of his total strength to this unfortunate turn of events.
April 7th, 1865. Union forces have all but surrounded Lee's retreating army and Grant calls on Lee to surrender. The Confederates instead skirmish with Union troops and manage to cross the Appomattox River, but Sherridan's Union cavalry move quickly to sweep around, blocking any further retreat at Appomattox Court House.
April 8th, 1865. General Lee makes plans to break through Sherridan's cavalry and resume his retreat. Both Lee and his officers agree that they will have little choice but to surrender should it turn out that Sherridan's force is supported by infantry.
April 9th, 1865. Today will bear witness to the last battle The Army of Northern Virginia will engage in. Lee's men make some intial progress against the cavalry screen, but the Confederate soldiers run into firm lines of Union infantry - There is no escape. Lee accepts the hand fate has dealt him and orders a white towel to be borne aloft. A Confederate officer carries this 'flag of truce' and proceeds through Union lines, carrying Lee's request for an immediate truce and the commencement of surrender negotiations. Lee and Grant meet in the house of Wilbur McLean at Appomattox Court House and the Union General proceeds to outline the terms of surrender. Grant, observing Lee's magnificent sword, allows officers to retain their personal weapons as part of the surrender agreement. After reading the terms, Lee informs Grant that most of the Confederate cavalry, and many Confederate artillerists, own the horses they have been campaigning with. Grants concedes to this and modifies the terms, allowing those who claim a horse to keep it. Lee signs the surrender and rides back through the silent ranks of his men saying, "Go to your homes and resume your occupations. Obey the laws and become as good citizens as you were soldiers.".
April 10th, 1865. The now surrended Army of Northern Virginia receives welcomed rations from the Union Army. General Lee issues his farewell address to his men, concluding it by saying, "With an increasing admiration of your constancy and devotion to your country, and a grateful remembrance of your kind and generous consideration of myself, I bid you an affectionate farewell.". News of Lee's surrender reaches the fugitive Confederate Government at Danville and they flee, heading for Greensborough, North Carolina.
April 12th, 1865. A moving ceremony is held at Appomattox as the Army of Northern Virginia formally surrenders its weapons and flags. General Gordon leads the Confederate column before the assembled ranks of Union troops, commanded by Major-General Joshua Chamberlain. One of the most famous military organizations of all times lays down its proud battle ensigns and marches into the realm of history.
April 20th, 1865. General Lee writes to Jefferson Davis, urging him to not carry out proposed guerilla warfare and accept a formal surrender instead. This was to be Lee's last act as a Confederate General.
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