Colonel Thomas S. Allen on the 5th Wisconsin Infantry at the Breakthrough at Petersburg and the Battle of Sailor’s Creek April 1865

The 5th Wisconsin Infantry began serving in the Union cause in July 1861, almost at the very beginning of the Civil War. The regiment had seen action in most of the campaigns and battles in the Eastern theatre of operations, and as the calendar turned to April 1865, the unit was fighting in the final battles in Virginia. Colonel Thomas Allen was in command of the 5th.

On April 1st, Union forces captured the strategic crossroads at Five Forks, southwest of Petersburg. With U.S. troops poised to cut off the last railroad line into the city, Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant decided the time was right to launch a general assault along the Petersburg lines to break the nine-and-a-half-month siege of the city and capture both Petersburg and Richmond. The attack was set for early on April 2nd.

Major General Horatio Wright

The Union 6th Corps, under Major General Horatio Wright, manned the line on the south and southwest of Petersburg. The 5th Wisconsin was in the 3rd Brigade (commanded by Colonel Oliver Edwards) of General Frank Wheaton’s 1st Division of the 6th Corps. Grant ordered his artillery to shell the Confederate lines from 10:00 p.m. on April 1st into the early morning hours of the 2nd. At about 4:40 a.m. on the 2nd, Wright ordered his corps forward. Despite the artillery barrage, the Confederates were still in their lines and contested the advance. The 5th Wisconsin and 37th Massachusetts led the way in the 3rd Brigade’s attack. The Federals went up and over the parapets and into the Confederate works, breaching the defensive lines. U.S. troops were breaking through all along the lines, and those Confederates not killed or captured retreated. The siege was over and Petersburg was captured, as was Richmond; both cities were occupied the next day.

Fall of Petersburg by Kurz and Allison

The Confederates were in full retreat to the west, along the Appomattox River with Union forces in hot pursuit. It was a fighting retreat, with actions in several locations. On April 6th, the last large

Gen. Richard Ewell CSA

battle between Union forces and the Army of Northern Virginia took place at Sailor’s Creek (sometimes referred to as Sayler’s Creek in 19th century accounts), a tributary of the Appomattox River near Farmville, Virginia. Portions of three Union Corps were in action, with the 6th Corps battling Lieutenant General Richard Ewell’s Corps. A detail of six men from the 5th Wisconsin , led by Sergeant Angus Cameron, captured General Ewell (although Ewell would report he had surrendered to a cavalry officer). Cameron received a field promotion to Lieutenant for his action. Ewell was one of thousands of Confederates captured at Sailor’s Creek. On April 9th, with his army surrounded on three sides, General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to Grant.

Colonel Allen submitted this report on the regiment’s action on April 2nd at Petersburg and April 6th at Sailor’s Creek. The unit suffered significant casualties in its final week of fighting before the surrender. The 5th returned to Wisconsin in June and was mustered out that month.

Headquarters Fifth Wisconsin Volunteers,
April 15, 1865.

Captain: In compliance with circular of the 14th instant, I have the honor to report:

Col. Thomas Allen, 5th Wisconsin Infantry

First. That in the attack on the rebel lines near Fort Fisher on the morning of the 2d instant my regiment was placed in the front line, with the Thirty-seventh Massachusetts on my right. This line was preceded by a light line of pioneers and sharpshooters. At the signal “forward!” the line started promptly, cut through the abatis in a very few moments, and soon carried the works in our front. My regiment first planted its colors on the works. Without waiting to hold captured property, although several guns were captured by my men, a flank fire was opened both to the right and left, assisting the other brigades of this and the Second Division in carrying their respective fronts. In the afternoon of the same day, and during all the following, my regiment joined in the general movement of the brigade.

Among the names especially deserving of honorable mention are those of the gallant Capt. John B. Doughty, who was killed while urging his men through the abatis; Capt. Henry Curran and Lieut. E. K. Jones did good service; Capt. Thomas Flint captured and destroyed two wagons loaded with valuable stores; Capt. William Bremmer captured and destroyed three wagons, also loaded; Lieutenant-Colonel Bull was one of the first officers to enter the works. The color-sergeant, Robert H. Langton, and color-corporal, August Franz, cannot be too highly praised for their energy and daring. Sergt. James Young, of Company D, with some fifteen or twenty men, pushed ahead to the South Side road and fired on a train of cars which was passing, and cut the telegraph wires for some distance, showing that they were the first to strike the road, since cars could not run had the road been struck previously.

Our loss this day was 14 killed and 67 wounded.

Battle of Petersburg April 2nd, 1965 by Currier and Ives

Second. In the movement of the 6th instant an attack was made on the left of the rebel line near Little Sailor’s Creek. My regiment was ordered forward in line of battle, and I was instructed to guide on Third Division. The Third Division not starting in time, I pushed ahead, under orders of Colonel Edwards, down the hill and across the swamp, into which the men plunged recklessly, some of them up to their arm-pits. Having reformed the line, which had become broken by the passage of this obstacle, I threw out Company G, under command of Capt. Henry Curran, and Company C, under command of Lieut. E. R. Jones, as skirmishers. This line advanced rapidly, losing sixteen men by a fire from our left flank. I then ordered the whole line forward, suffering heavily from the same fire. The skirmishers, re-enforced by a portion of my line, swung around to the left and took the rebels in flank, causing for a moment a general stampede. Seeing a general officer and staff making to the rear and left, Captain Curran sent forward several men from his right to watch their movement. These men soon got into their rear, when, seeing farther retreat useless, Lieutenant General Ewell surrendered himself and staff to Sergt. Angus Cameron, in charge of squad, remarking that he surrendered himself and 5,000 men, and inquired for an officer; none being present at the moment he surrendered unconditionally. Soon after a squad of cavalry came up and claimed the prisoners and took possession of them. Our loss was 15 killed and 72 wounded.

The names of the six men who captured General Ewell are, Sergt. Angus Cameron, Corpl. Charles Roughan, Corpl. August Brocker, and Private John W. Davis, of Company C; Corpl. John J. Cosat and Private H. W. True, Company I.

Respectfully, your obedient servant,

T. S. ALLEN,
Colonel, Commanding Regiment.

[Capt. T. G. Colt,
Acting Assistant Adjutant-General.]

Sources:

“Five Forks and the Pursuit of Lee” by Horace Porter. In Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Volume IV, edited by Robert U. Johnson and Clarence C. Buel

The Military History of Wisconsin in the War for the Union by E.B. Quiner

Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies in the War of the Rebellion, Series I, Volume 46, Part 1, Section 2

Out of the Storm: The End of the Civil War, April-June 1865. by Noah Andre Trudeau