Freedom by the Sword - US Army Center Of Military History

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Freedom by the Sword: The U.S. Colored Troops, 1862–1867
few Union regiments stayed in Petersburg to fight fires and prevent looting. Most
pressed on westward in pursuit of Lee’s army. 85
North of the James River on 3 April, Confederate deserters began to reach
Union outposts well before dawn with news of the evacuation of Richmond. As the
sky began to lighten, General Weitzel reported “explosions and fires in the enemy’s
lines. . . . I will move at daybreak.” His two divisions, one from the XXIV Corps
and another from Weitzel’s own XXV Corps, were ready. In the 19th USCI, Capt.
James H. Rickard jotted additions to a letter home during spare moments throughout
the day. Before leaving camp, he composed a few pages with pen and ink:
Standing in line this morning a little past four o clock I witnessed one of the
grandest sights I ever beheld . . . a great heavy column of bright blaze & smoke
rose high in the heavens followed by a crash that shook the ground[.] [A]t daylight
another similar in the direction of Richmond. . . . We have just got orders
to be ready to move immediately. We go for them to-day I guess. I must stop &
eat my breakfast. 86
Later in the morning, he continued in pencil:
7.45 o clock passing through the rebel line they have evacuated our front[;]
fires still burning. [T]hey have left their tents standing torpedoes [land mines]
in front of their works 11 [a.m.] waiting in front of the city . . . to find a place
to cross the river Richmond is in flames constant explosions are taking place
continuous roar the rebels are just ahead of us we are after them close Fine day,
one of the most glorious of my life. . . . [O]ur troops are filled with the greatest
enthusiasm. 12 o clock M. in Richmond we have now entered Richmond the city
is on fire we are going now on board a Steamer to cross the river. . . . 2 1/2 P.M.
we are now in the city of Manchester [on the south bank of the James, opposite
Richmond] the people very glad to see us come the negros flock around us in
thousands & are in Extacies It is thought we may stay here a while.
That evening, Rickard reverted to ink: “Manchester 8 P.M. We are now encamped
on the south side of the city. I have just ridden into the town to see about
going back to morrow for our knap sacks which we left behind coming away in
such a hurry. I have no time to write any more, will give you more details some
other time.” 87
The advance on Richmond that morning was a race. The officer who commanded
the XXIV Corps pickets “noticed that the pickets of the Twenty-fifth
Corps were advancing to the [Confederate trenches] on their front. Our skirmishers
were at once set in motion. . . . We had moved about two miles when General
Wild and staff overtook us with about a company of colored soldiers. . . . I sent
85 OR, ser. 1, vol. 46, pt. 1, pp. 1040, 1047, 1049; Califf Diary, 3 Apr 1865; R. J. M. Blackett, ed.,
Thomas Morris Chester, Black Civil War Correspondent: His Dispatches from the Virginia Front
(Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1989), p. 313.
86 OR, ser. 1, vol. 46, pt. 3, p. 533; J. H. Rickard to Dear Brother, 2–3 Apr 1865, J. H. Rickard
Letters, AAS.
87 Rickard to Dear Brother, 2–3 Apr 1865.