Details
GRANT, ULYSSES S., President. Autograph letter signed ("U.S. Grant Lt. Gen.") to Major General Godfrey Weitzel, "Head Quarters Armies of the United States" [in the field, near Richmond], 2 April 1865. 1 page, oblong, 133 x 192 mm. (5 1/4 x 7 3/4 in.), in pencil on printed Headquarters stationery, discreetly silked.
PREPARING TO SEIZE RICHMOND
A letter written at the critical point where Grant and the Union Army were poised to mount their final, successful assault on the Richmond-Petersburg lines, which took place the next morning. Weitzel was in command of the XXV Corps, north of the James River on the Army of the Potomac's right flank, close to Richmond. Here, Grant clarifies his role in the impending attack: "You need not assault in the morning unless you have good reason for believing the enemy are leaving [evacuating Richmond]. We have a good thing of it now and in a day or two I think I will be able to send you all the troops necessary...."
Philip Sheridan's hard-fought victory a few days earlier at Five Forks had forced Lee to weaken his lines to reinforce his southern flank. Early on the morning of April 2 Lee informed President Jefferson Davis that in light of the Federal threat from the South, which would cut off a possible line of retreat to the Carolinas, Richmond and Petersburg would have to be evacuated that night. Grant learned from rebel deserters of Lee's thinned lines and immediately ordered a general assault for dawn on April 2. As Grant later described the situation, "I notified Weitzel on the north side of the James River, directing him, also, to keep close up to the enemy, and take advantage of the withdrawal of troops from there to promptly enter the city of Richmond" (Memoirs, Lib. of America edn., p.703).
The present battlefield communique was probably written during the evening or night of April 2, at Grant's Headquarters at Dabney's Saw-mill. In the assault the next day, the Confederate line began to collapse in many sections as the Richmond evacuation commenced. On April 3, Grant received a telegram from Weitzel, informing him that he and his men had taken possession of Richmond, the bitterly defended capital of the Confederacy, at about 8:15 that morning.
PREPARING TO SEIZE RICHMOND
A letter written at the critical point where Grant and the Union Army were poised to mount their final, successful assault on the Richmond-Petersburg lines, which took place the next morning. Weitzel was in command of the XXV Corps, north of the James River on the Army of the Potomac's right flank, close to Richmond. Here, Grant clarifies his role in the impending attack: "You need not assault in the morning unless you have good reason for believing the enemy are leaving [evacuating Richmond]. We have a good thing of it now and in a day or two I think I will be able to send you all the troops necessary...."
Philip Sheridan's hard-fought victory a few days earlier at Five Forks had forced Lee to weaken his lines to reinforce his southern flank. Early on the morning of April 2 Lee informed President Jefferson Davis that in light of the Federal threat from the South, which would cut off a possible line of retreat to the Carolinas, Richmond and Petersburg would have to be evacuated that night. Grant learned from rebel deserters of Lee's thinned lines and immediately ordered a general assault for dawn on April 2. As Grant later described the situation, "I notified Weitzel on the north side of the James River, directing him, also, to keep close up to the enemy, and take advantage of the withdrawal of troops from there to promptly enter the city of Richmond" (Memoirs, Lib. of America edn., p.703).
The present battlefield communique was probably written during the evening or night of April 2, at Grant's Headquarters at Dabney's Saw-mill. In the assault the next day, the Confederate line began to collapse in many sections as the Richmond evacuation commenced. On April 3, Grant received a telegram from Weitzel, informing him that he and his men had taken possession of Richmond, the bitterly defended capital of the Confederacy, at about 8:15 that morning.