Richmond Captured - April 3, 1865

The end of the Confederacy is near.

While sitting in his usual pew in St. Paul's Episcopal Church, the sexton handed President Davis a telegram the war Department had received from General Lee. "... lines broken. There was no hope of repairing the damage.  He must retreat at once to save the army.  Richmond must be evacuated tonight."

The fall of Richmond, orders to destroy war material, cotton and tobacco stored in the city and the surrounding chaos is a particularly fascinating tale, well told by Nelson Lankford in Richmond Burning: the last days of the Confederate Capital.  Check your library.

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