As General Robert E. Lee’s retreat from the collapsed Confederate defensive lines around Petersburg and Richmond reached Appomattox Station it was almost at its end. Pursuing Union forces were closing in not only from behind, but from all sides. On April 8, 1865, Union cavalry captured three trains of badly needed food supplies here along the tracks of the South Side Railroad, then went on to overrun the Confederate reserve artillery under General R. Lindsay Walker. Lee’s surrender to Grant would come the next day.

The former train station in Appomattox, Virginia now serves as the Appomattox Visitors Information Center

The former train station in Appomattox, Virginia now serves as the Appomattox Visitors Information Center

Markers around the Appomattox Visitors Information Center:

Battle of Appomattox Station – Lee’s Retreat marker
Battle of Appomattox Station – Final Blow – wayside marker
Battle of Appomattox Station K159 Virginia historical marker

Nearby marker at Appomattox:

The Last Positions – Virginia historical marker MG2

The former train station in Appomattox, Virginia now serves as the Appomattox Visitors Information Center

View of the postwar Appomattox train station, now a visitor center, from the south side of the railroad tracks

Railroad mainline to Petersburg from the Appomattox train station

The main line of the old South Side Railroad (now owned by Norfolk Southern) from in front of the Appomattox Train Station. It was about 80 miles as the crow flies to Petersburg.

Location

The Appomattox Visitors Information Center is in the restored train station at the corner of Main and Church Streets.