Sheridan’s Army of the Shenandoah consisting of two cavalry divisions, a total of about 10,000 men, would leave Winchester on February 27, 1865, with orders to “destroy the Virginia Central Railroad, the James River Canal, capture Lynchburg if practicable and then join Major General William T. Sherman in North Carolina or return to Winchester.” He would travel up the valley to Staunton and then east toward Charlottesville. In the process he would fight a battle at Waynesboro on March 2nd with his nemesis from the year before in the valley, Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal Early. Early severely outnumbered would be routed and well over half his force captured. Sheridan would arrive in Charlottesville on the 3rd. With no significsnt Confederate force left in Central Virginia Sheridan would set out to destroy the railroad and James River Canal. In order to join Sherman he would need to cross the James River.

However, things would change, Sheridan goes on to state “General Merritt thoroughly accomplished his orders, destroying all large flour mills, woolen factories, and manufacturing establishments, tearing up and demolishing all the locks on the James River Canal from Scottsville to New Market. I had directed him to try and obtain possession of the bridge across the James River at Duguidsville (Diuguidsville) intending to hold it and strike the South Side Railroad at Appomattox Depot and follow up its destruction to Farmville, where the High Bridge crosses the Appomattox. A bold dash was made to secure this bridge, but without avail, as the enemy had covered it with inflammable material and set it on fire the instant their scouts signalled the approach of our forces. They also, and by the same means, burned the bridge across the James River at Hardwicksville, leaving me master of all the country north of the James River.” With no place left to cross the swollen James River and a shortage of pontoon boats as he reported “My eight pontoons would not reach half way across the river, and my scouts from Lynchburg reported the enemy concentrating at that point from the west, together with a portion of General Pickett’s division from Richmond and Fitz Lee’s cavalry. It was here that I fully determined to join the armies of the Lieutenant-General in front of Petersburg, instead of going back to Winchester, and also make a more complete destruction of the James River Canal and the Virginia Central and Fredericksburg railroads, connecting Richmond with Lynchburg and Gordonsville.”

Rather than viewing his inability to cross the James River as a disadvantage he turned it to his advantage. If he could not cross the river to the south that also meant that the Rebels couldn’t cross it to the north side. He goes on to say “I now had all the advantage, and by hurrying quickly down the canal, and destroying it as near Richmond as Goochland, or beyond, and then moving up to the railroad and destroying it as close up to the city as possible, in the same manner I did toward Lynchburg, I felt convinced I was striking a hard blow by destroying the means of supply to the rebel capital, and, to a certain extent, the Army of Northern Virginia, besides leaving the troops now concentrating at Lynchburg without anything to oppose them, and forcing them to return to Richmond. This conception was at once decided upon, and Colonel Fitzhugh’s brigade was ordered to proceed to Goochland and beyond immediately, destroying every lock upon the canal, and cutting the banks wherever practicable.”

We’ll divide Sheridan’s Expedition Winchester to Petersburg- February 27- March 28, 1865, into multiple parts. The first part will cover from Winchester to Charlottesville including the Battle of Waynesboro (February 27- March 5). The second part will focus primarily on the destruction of the James and Kanawha River Canal from Charlottesville through to Columbia (March 6-11). The third part will deal primarily with the breaking up of the Virginia Central Railroad and the road to Petersburg (March 12-27). Sheridan and his men would then move on the north side of the Pamunkey River, crossing it to White House Landing where the army would rest and refit for 6 days. Two days later they would join Grant in Petersburg on March 27th.

Posts in this Series

Sheridan’s Expedition Winchester to Petersburg- February 27- March 28, 1865- Part 1

Sheridan’s Expedition Winchester to Petersburg- February 27- March 28, 1865- Part 2

Who was the Only Soldier Supposedly Killed in Action in Fluvanna County?

Lieutenant Colonel George R. Maxwell and the Solitude Mill

Sheridan’s Expedition Winchester to Petersburg- February 27- March 28, 1865- Part 3

Charlottesville, VA- Sites and Homes Related to Sheridan’s 1865 Expedition

Fluvanna County, Virginia- Sites and Homes Related to Sheridan’s 1865 Expedition

Nelson County, Virginia- Sites and Homes Related to Sheridan’s 1865 Expedition

Sheridan’s Expedition Winchester to Petersburg- February 27- March 28, 1865- Regimental Histories

Sources

Official Records of the War of the Rebellion- Volume XLVI, Chapter LXVIII pages 474-523

Sheridan’s James River Campaign of 1865 Through Central Virginia by Richard L. Nicholas

The Battle of Waynesboro by Richard G. Williams Jr.