Realizing that the Union forces could close in on his men at Cumberland Church, General Robert E. Lee withdrew his army in another night march to the west at about 11:00 p.m.

[3] From High Bridge, the railroad ran parallel to the north bank of the river until it reached Farmville, Virginia, 4 miles (6.4 km) to the southwest.

[4] After the Battle of Sailor's Creek, Confederate Lieutenant General Richard H. Anderson and Major General John B. Gordon and the defeated survivors of their corps headed for the South Side Railroad's High Bridge and the wagon bridge below it to cross to the presumed relative safety of the north side of the Appomattox River.

[citation needed] Lieutenant General James Longstreet's corps, which had reached Rice's Station on the morning of April 6, had moved past Sailor's Creek because they were at the head of the march and missed the battle there.

[6] After the minor Battle of Rice's Station on April 6, in a night march, Longstreet's corps slipped away from Major General John Gibbon's XXIV Corps of Major General Edward Ord's Army of the James, which had approached the Confederate lines at Rice's Station during afternoon.

[9] Longstreet's troops began to arrive at Farmville, under close pursuit by Union Major General George Crook's cavalry division, at about 9:00 a.m.on April 7.

[5] Rations were promptly issued to Longstreet's men at Farmville but the soldiers were told to march to the north side of the river to begin their meal preparations.

[14] Major General Andrew A. Humphreys began to march the II Corps west from the Sailor's Creek Battlefield at 5:30 a.m. on April 7.

[19] On the morning of April 7, the Union troops led by the 19th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment under Colonel Isaac R. Starbird were able to prevent the total destruction of the railroad bridge, though it had been made unusable.

[23] During this attack, Brigadier General Smyth was mortally wounded by a sniper shot as he rode with his skirmish line within 50 yards (46 m) of Gordon's rear guard near Farmville.

[26] The 1st Maine Cavalry Regiment, armed with 16-shot Henry repeating rifles, led the attack on the Confederate rear guard and the Union forces drove them toward Farmville.

[27] Wilcox led his division back across the river to protect the rear guard and the trains with rations just before they moved out toward Pamplin Station.

[29] Soon thereafter, Union Army General-in-Chief Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant and his staff arrived in Farmville, making the Randolph House (Prince Edward Hotel) his headquarters.

[28] After a short period of time, the Confederates withdrew 3 miles (4.8 km) to the north to join Mahone's division around Cumberland Church.

[28] At this location, First Corps (Longstreet's) artillery chief Edward Porter Alexander told General Lee that the route of march to Appomattox Station was 8 miles (13 km) shorter on the south side of the river and they should have stayed there.

[23][30] Lieutenant General Anderson with little more than a few stragglers and a battalion of artillery headed west when Mahone told him that Humphreys was approaching on the same side of the river with them.

[30][32] Despite evident confusion and disorganization, especially among the survivors of commands hard hit at Sailor's Creek and Gordon's men who had not arrived at Farmville to get rations from the trains that had been there, the Confederates began to prepare defenses at Cumberland Church.

[30][34] Historian William Marvel stated that with artillery, about 12,000 effective Confederate men held the position at Cumberland Church.

[1] A heavy Union skirmish line moved forward but Miles and de Trobriand found they were unable to make a successful flank attack against Mahone along the Jamestown Road.

[36][37] Humphreys heard gunfire from the direction of Farmville and saw the Confederates shorten their right flank, so he thought the VI Corps had crossed the river and were starting their attack.

[36][37] Despite heavy fire, including canister, and the movement of Brigadier General William Forney's Alabama brigade to the left to protect the flank, some of the Union force made it to the Confederate line.

[38] As night approached and no Union reinforcements had arrived to join the II Corps, Humphreys made no further attacks on the Confederate line.

[35][39] The gunfire heard by Humphreys was from Crook's cavalry, which had crossed the river and attacked a wagon train about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) up the Buckingham Plank Road from Farmville.

[37] The wagon train was accompanied by the survivors of Anderson's (Johnson's) and Pickett's command, hundreds of stragglers, and several artillery batteries.

[41] Another Union attack was repulsed but Confederate Brigadier General William Gaston Lewis was severely wounded and captured.

[41][43] After Confederate troops prevented General Robert E. Lee from personally leading a counterattack by pledging to repulse the Union cavalrymen, they forced Crook's troopers to retreat across the Appomattox River to Farmville.

[notes 8][citation needed] Grant wrote to Lee from Farmville at 5:00 p.m. on April 7: General:The results of the last week must convince you of the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia in this struggle.

[notes 10][47] The VI Corps marched through Farmville on the night of April 7, lit bonfires and cheered General Grant as they passed his headquarters hotel.

[55] Brigadier General Reuben Lindsay Walker had been moving the reserve artillery column independently of the main body of the Confederate army.

[59] General Humphreys stated in his book that the delay forced upon the Confederate Army by the engagement at Cumberland Church lost Lee valuable time.