Even yet he was able to cradle himself in the illusion that it was only
a campaign that had failed, and that he might continue the war
indefinitely in another field. At nightfall all his preparations were
completed, and dismounting at the mouth of the road leading to Amelia
Court House, the first point of rendezvous, where he had directed
supplies to be sent, he watched his troops file noiselessly by in the
darkness. By three o'clock the town was abandoned; at half-past four it
was formally surrendered. Meade, reporting the news to Grant, received
orders to march his army immediately up the Appomattox; and divining
Lee's intentions, Grant also sent word to Sheridan to push with all
speed to the Danville road.
Thus flight and pursuit began almost at the same moment. The
swift-footed Army of Northern Virginia was racing for its life, and
Grant, inspired with more than his habitual tenacity and energy, not
only pressed his enemy in the rear, but hung upon his flank, and
strained every nerve to get in his front. He did not even allow himself
the pleasure of entering Richmond, which surrendered to Weitzel early on
the morning of the third.
All that day Lee pushed forward toward Amelia Court House. There was
little fighting except among the cavalry. A terrible disappointment
awaited Lee on his arrival at Amelia Court House on the fourth.
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