Fig. 33. The Federal Army Entering Richmond, Virginia, April 3, 1865, Frank Leslie’s 1895 Book, History of the Civil War
On April 2, 1865, black troops were among the first to enter Petersburg. They marched to the tune of “John Brown’s Body” and included the lyrics “We’ll hang Jeff Davis on a sour apple-tree.”
Richmond fell the day after Petersburg, on April 3, 1865. Black regiments of Major General Weitzel’s XXV Corps (see chapter 13: Twenty-Fifth Corps) led the Union army on the day Richmond was liberated and were the first to enter the city. Black correspondent Thomas Morris Chester reported that the 36th USCT was reported to be the first regiment to enter Richmond. Commanding the brigade marching into Richmond was Brevet Brigade General Alonzo Draper, former regimental major of the black regiment Thirty-Sixth USCT. Six months earlier, Draper and his black troops had driven Confederates guarding Richmond from their outer defenses (see chapter 13:Colonel Draper’s Charge). The victory at New Market Heights had resulted in General Lee pulling his Confederate troops from Petersburg and retreating to the inner defenses of Richmond. The victory had helped to get Lincoln reelected, and fourteen black troops had been rewarded with Congressional Medals of Honor. Draper was promoted from the rank of major to brevet brigadier general. Earlier in the war Draper was an officer in Wild’s African Brigade (see chapter 12: Brigadier General Edward A. Wild).
Thomas Morris Chester described the fall of Richmond to newspapers back in Philadelphia. Chester wrote:
“When General Draper’s brigade entered the outskirts of the city it was halted, and a brigade of Devin’s division, 24th Corps, passed in to constitute the provost guard. A scene was here witnessed which was not only grand, but sublime. Officers rushed into each other’s arms, congratulating them upon the peaceful occupation of this citadel… The pious old negroes, male and female, indulged in such expressions: “You’ve come at last”; “We’ve been looking for you these many days”; “Jesus has opened the way”; “God bless you”; “I’ve not seen that old flag for four years”; “It does my eyes good”; “Have you come to stay?”; “Thank God”, and similar expressions of exultation.
There General Draper’s brigade, with the gallant 36th U.S.C.T.’s drum corps, played “Yankee Doodle” and “Shouting the Battle Cry of Freedom,” amid the cheers of the boys and the white soldiers who filed by them… For marching or fighting Draper’s 1st Brigade, 1st Division, 25th Corps, is not to be surpassed in the service, and the General honors it with a pride and a consciousness which inspire him to undertake cheerfully whatever may be committed to his execution. It was his brigade that nipped the flower of the Southern army, the Texas Brigade, under Gary, which never before last September knew defeat. There may be others who may claim the distinction of being the first to enter the city, but as I was ahead of every part of the force but the cavalry, which of necessity must lead the advance, I know whereof I affirm when I announce that General Draper’s brigade was the first organization to enter the city limits. According to custom, it should constitute the provost guard of Richmond.
Kautz’s division, consisting of Draper’s and Wild’s brigades, with troops of the 24th Corps, were placed in the trenches around the city, and Thomas’ brigade was assigned to garrison Manchester. Proper dispositions have been made of the force to give security, and, soldier-like, placed the defenses of the city beyond the possibility of a surprise.
As we entered all the Government buildings were in flames, having been fired by order of the rebel General Ewell. The flames soon communicated themselves to the business part of the city; and continued to rage furiously throughout the day. All efforts to arrest this destructive element seemed for the best part of the day of no avail. The fire department of Richmond rendered every aid, and to them and the co-operate labors of our soldiers belongs the credit of having saved Richmond from the devastating flames. As it is, all that part of the city lying between Ninth and Fourteenth streets, between Main street and the river inclusive, is in ruins. Among the most prominent buildings destroyed are the rebel War Department, Quartermaster General’s Department, all the buildings with commissary stores, Shockoe’s and Dibbrel’s warehouses, well stored with tobacco, Dispatch and Enquirer newspaper buildings, the court house, (Guy) House, Farmers’ Bank, Bank of Virginia, Exchange Bank, Tracers’ Bank, American and Columbia hotels, and the Mayo bridge which unites Richmond with Manchester. The buildings of the largest merchants are among those which have been reduced to ashes.
The flames, in spreading, soon communicated to poor and rich houses alike. All classes were soon rushing, into the streets with their goods, to save them.”[1]
Thomas Morris Chester
Black Civil War Correspondent
His Dispatches from the Virginia Front
One of the black soldiers who led the Union army into Richmond on the day it fell was Chaplin Garland White. He marched into the capital of the Confederacy, Richmond, Virginia, at the front of his regiment, the Twenty-Eighth USCI. White wrote:
“I have just returned from the city of Richmond; my regiment was among the first that entered that city. I marched at the head of the column, and soon I found myself called upon by the officers and men of my regiment to make a speech, with which, of course, I readily complied. A vast multitude assembled on Broad Street, and I was aroused amid the shouts of ten thousand voices, and proclaimed for the first time in that city freedom to all mankind. After which the doors of all the slave pens were thrown open, and thousands came out shouting and praising God, and Father, of Master Abe, as they termed him. In this mighty consternation I became so overcome with tears that I could not stand up under the pressure of such fullness of joy in my own heart. I retired to gain strength, so I lost many important topics worthy of note.
Among the densely crowded concourse there were parents looking for children who had been sold south of this state in tribes, and husbands came for the same purpose; here and there one was singled out in the ranks, and an effort was made to approach the gallant and marching soldiers, who were too obedient to orders to break ranks.
We continued our march as far as Camp Lee, at the extreme end of Broad Street, running westwards. In camp the multitude followed, and everybody could participate in shaking the friendly but hard hands of the poor slaves. Among the many broken-hearted mothers looking for their children who had been sold to Georgia and elsewhere, was an aged woman, passing through the vast crowd of colored, inquiring for [one] by the name of Garland H. White, who had been sold from her when a small boy, and was bought by a lawyer named Robert Toombs, who lived in Georgia. Since the war has been going on she has seen Mr. Toombs in Richmond with troops from his state, and upon her asking him where his body-servant Garland was, he replied: “He ran off from me at Washington, and went to ‘Canada. I have since learned that he is living somewhere in the State of Ohio.” Some of the boys knowing that I lived in Ohio, soon found me and said, “Chaplain, here is a lady that wishes to see you.” I quickly turned, following the soldier until coming to a group of colored ladies. I was questioned as follows:
“What is your name, sir?”
“My name is Garland H. White.”
What was your mother’s name?”
“Nancy.”
“Where was you born?”
“In Hanover County, in this State.” “Where was you sold from?”
“From this city.”
“What was the name of the man who bought you?”
“Robert Toombs.”
“Where did he live?”
“In the State of Georgia.”
“Where did you leave him?”
“At Washington.”
“Where did you go then?”
“To Canada.”
“Where do you live now?”
“In Ohio.”
“This is your mother, Garland, whom you are now talking to, who has spent twenty years of grief about her son.”
I cannot express the joy I felt at this happy meeting of my mother and other friends. But suffice it to say that God is on the side of the righteous, and will in due time reward them. I have witnessed several such scenes among the other colored regiments.
Late in the afternoon, we were honored with his Excellency, the President of the United States, Lieutenant-General Grant, and other gentlemen of distinction.We made a grand parade through most of the principal streets of the city, beginning at Jeff Davis’s mansion, and it appeared to me that all the colored people in the world had collected in that city for that purpose. I never saw so many colored people in all my life, women and children of all sizes running after Father, or Master Abraham, as they called him. To see the colored people, one would think they had all gone crazy…Some people do not seem to believe that the colored troops were the first that entered Richmond. Why, you need not feel at all timid in giving the truthfulness of my assertion to the four winds of the heavens, and let the angels re-echo it back to the earth, that the colored soldiers of the Army of the James were the first to enter the city of Richmond. I was with them, and am still with them, and am willing to stay with them until freedom is proclaimed throughout the world. Yes, we will follow this race of men in search of liberty through the whole Island of Cuba. All the boys are well, and send their love to all the kind ones at home.
Garland H. White, Chaplain,
28th USCI,
Richmond, Virginia, April 12, 1865”[2]
Weitzel set up his headquarters in the Whitehouse of the Confederate President, Jefferson Davis. They raised the American flag over Richmond, opened the slave pens, freeing thousands, who praised God and President Lincoln.
The Confederate perspective of the fall of Richmond is expressed in a very popular 1969 song written by Canadian Robbie Robertson called “The Night they Drove Old Dixie Down.”[3] A verse in the song describes the plight of the people of Richmond:
“In the winter of ’65, we were hungry, just barely alive
By May the tenth, Richmond had fell, it’s a time I remember oh so well”
The next day, Weitzel met with President Lincoln and expressed his concern about the people of Richmond. Richmond was under siege since June 9, 1864 and supplies to the city were cut March 25, 1865. Much of the city was destroyed and the people of Richmond were suffering. President Lincoln replied “If I were in your position, General, I think I would let them up easy, let them up easy.”[4] The XXV Corps dispensed supplies to the people of Richmond and protected the city from looters.
The Twenty-Fifth Corps pursued Robert E. Lee’s army and participated in the closing battle at Clover Hill on April 9, 1865, the day of Lee’s surrender. Black troops continued to follow General Lee to Appomattox, where he surrendered.
[1] Chester, Black Civil War Correspondent,290–291.
[2] E. S. Redkey, A Grand Army of Black Men, 175.
[3] Goggle Play, The Night they Drove Old Dixie Down, https://play.google.com/music/preview/Tf7jrcmdxfephhd3cvmtwotlbiq?lyrics=1&utm_source=google&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=lyrics&pcampaignid=kp-lyrics
[4] Fort Pocahontas, Major General Godfrey Weitzel United States Army, http://www.fortpocahontas.org/Weitzel.html