Appomattox Court House > Confederate Cemetery
The Strategic Delay wayside marker at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park stands next to the old Richmond-Lynchburg stage road and looks across the open fields toward the village of Appomattox Court House, a view that is little changed since the Civil War. The Appomattox monument, Wartime Landscape wayside marker and Confederate Cemetery are nearby.
From the wayside marker:
A Strategic Delay
As Lee’s Confederate Army retreated west, Federal forces blocked their way. Near this spot, Union artillery pieces commanded by Lieutenant James H. Lord and a cavalry brigade led by Brevet Brigadier General Charles Smith proved a strategic delay to the Confederate retreat – allowing time for other Federal units to move into position and ensure General Robert E. Lee’s surrender on April 9, 1865.
From the captions to the portrait insets at center:
James H. Lord (1832-1896), an 1857 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and a Pennsylvanian, received the brevet rank of major for gallant and meritorious service in action at Appomattox Court House (*-see note below)
William P. Roberts (1841-1910) was the youngest Confederate general in service. He was promoted brigadier general in February 1865.
From the caption to the map:
During the early hours of April 9, 1865, Confederate forces moved into position on the west side of Appomattox Court House and prepared to launch a dawn assault to open the road. Before daylight Lord’s two 3-inch Ordnance Rifles (blue cannons on map) began firing shells into the Confederate formations. Skirmishers of the 1st Maine Cavalry (blue dots on the map) moved forward to support Lord’s battery. When Southern troops advanced, the Federal skirmishers withdrew and Lord’s cannoneers fled. Brigadier General William P. Roberts’ North Carolina cavalry brigade captured the two Union cannons and some remaining artillerymen, but the delay helped secure the Confederate surrender.
Note – James H. Lord graduated from West Point in 1862, not 1857, which is when he entered the Academy.
Location
The marker is on the side of the Confederate Cemetery parking area, on the north side of Virginia Route 24 about 500 yards west of the entrance to the Village and about 1.5 miles east of the interchange of US 460 and Virginia Route 24. There is a small parking area north of Route 24.