Combat· American Civil War
Richmond evacuation and Sayler's Creek
The last ground combat of the Confederate States Marine Corps.
When Richmond fell in early April 1865, the Confederate Marines holding the defenses at Drewry's Bluff abandoned their position and joined the retreat, forming part of Commander John Tucker's naval brigade marching to link up with Custis Lee's command. At Sayler's Creek on 6 April, with Sheridan's cavalry and artillery flanking the Confederate line, Ewell sent word to surrender; but Tucker's brigade fought on. The Marine battalion made a defiant counter-charge that astonished the Union commander, who had thought the men already his prisoners, before being overwhelmed by concentrated artillery fire and forced to give up. The brigade was captured. No firm casualty figure survives for the Confederate Marines in the action, which ended their war in the field, a stubborn last stand by a small corps in the final days of the Confederacy.
Podcast episodes on American Civil War
Record no. 401