APPOMATTOX COURT HOUSE BATTLEFIELD TOUR
STOP 7: BATTLE OF APPOMATTOX STATION
Allow 10 minutes for a visit
The last stop on the tour of Appomattox Court House Battlefield is the Battle of Appomattox Station in downtown Appomattox, Virginia, which is outside the boundary of Appomattox Court House National Historical Park. All there is at the stop is a wayside exhibit about the events that took place here. The wayside is on the north side of the Appomattox Visitors Information Center at 214 Main Street. The Visitor Center is inside the original Appomattox Station train station.
Confederate general Robert E. Lee was racing to beat the Union army to the railroad junction at Appomattox Station, which is about two miles west of the Appomattox Court House village. Once there, he hoped to load his men onto the trains and head south to join with General Joseph E. Johnston’s Army of the Tennessee in North Carolina. However, Union cavalry under the command of General George Armstrong Custer captured the trains at the depot on April 8, 1865, which were loaded with Confederate supplies. He also captured Confederate general Reuben Lindsay Walker’s supply wagons and artillery a half mile to the north. Once Lee heard this news, he knew the chances of escape were slim and sought surrender terms with General Ulysses S. Grant the next day after a last-ditch battle to reach the train station early in the morning.
Stop 6: Grant’s Headquarters | Battlefield Tour Home Page
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Last updated on August 25, 2023
