Battle of Sailor's Creek 1865
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Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 6 April 1865 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1865 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | 19th century (1800–1913) | derived from year |
| Location | United States | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | North America | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | American Civil War | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 37.3055, -78.2280 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Sailor's Creek, also known as the Battle of Sayler's Creek, was fought on April 6, 1865, near Farmville, Virginia, as part of the Appomattox Campaign, near the end of the American Civil War. It was the last major engagement between the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by General Robert E. Lee, and the Army of the Potomac, under the overall direction of Union General-in-Chief Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant.
After abandoning Petersburg, the exhausted and starving Confederates headed west, hoping to re-supply at Danville or Lynchburg, before joining General Joseph E. Johnston in North Carolina. But the stronger Union army kept pace with them, exploiting the rough terrain full of creeks and high bluffs, where the Confederates' long wagon trains were highly vulnerable. The two small bridges over Sailor's Creek and Little Sailor's Creek caused a bottleneck that further delayed the Confederates' attempt to escape. After some desperate hand-to-hand fighting, about a quarter of the remaining effective soldiers of the Confederate force were lost, including several generals.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Sailor's Creek (revision 1372836558), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Rice's Station 1865 · 7 km
- Battle of High Bridge 1865 · 8 km
- Battle of Amelia Springs 1865 · 14 km
- Battle of Cumberland Church 1865 · 15 km
- Battle of Namozine Church 1865 · 45 km
- Battle of Appomattox Court House 1865 · 51 km
Other battles of the American Civil War
- Skirmish at Cedar Creek 1864
- Skirmish at Terre Noire Creek 1864
- St. Albans Raid 1864
- Third Battle of Murfreesboro 1864
- Third Battle of Winchester 1864
- Battle of Aiken 1865
- Battle of Amelia Springs 1865
- Battle of Anderson 1865
- Battle of Appomattox Court House 1865
- Battle of Appomattox Station 1865
All 498 battles of the American Civil War →
Browse more: battles in United States · North America · 19th century battles