Early on the morning of April 3, 1864, immigrant Major General Godfrey Weitzel wrote, “a little before two o’clock I was awakened by General Shepley and informed that bright fires were seen in the direction of Richmond.” The fires indicated that the Confederate army was on the move. “Shortly after, while we were looking at these fires, we heard explosions,” he wrote later, presumably ammunition being blown up by the retreating army.1
Fires swirl beneath the Confederate Capitol designed by Thomas Jefferson.
A black teamster who was employed by the Confederates was captured and, Weitzel wrote, “[h]e informed me that immediately after dark the rebels began making preparations to leave, and that they had all gone.”2
Weitzel ordered his entire picket line forward to scout, and found the black informant’s intelligence corroborated. “I therefore directed all of my troops to be awakened and furnished with breakfast, and to be held in readiness to move as soon as it was light enough to see to pass through the lines of rebel torpedoes without injury” he reported.3
The army’s commander General Ord warned the German-born Union general that even if he did not encounter enemy troops on his movement, he still had to beware of other dangers. He was to keep his men off the roads and “look out for torpedoes and mines – it is now reported that large numbers of the former are put down on Chaffin’s farm and Bermuda front.” He advised Weitzel to “send cattle and old horses up the roads first” as primitive mine detection devices.4
Richmond was among the most heavily fortified cities in North America in 1865. Forts (A) and trench lines surrounded it. As the Confederates withdrew from their lines, they set fire to their supplies and other goods. These fires soon spread, burning down 10% of the city, primarily along the river (B). Union prisoners held at Belle Isle had already been moved south to Andersonville months before Weitzel’s corps occupied Richmond (C). The old Virginia State Capitol, designed by Jefferson, was used as the capitol of the Confederacy until April 2, 1865. It was there that Weitzel saw the refugees from the fires (D). The Confederate White House was turned into General Weitzel’s living quarters upon the occupation of the city. Lincoln visited here (E). Lincoln landed southeast of this point when he came to Richmond (E). He proceeded on foot from here to the center of the city.
As Weitzel moved towards the Confederate capital, he recalled, “the fires seemed to increase in number and size, and at intervals loud explosions were heard.” As his men entered the city he witnessed a scene of “perfect pandemonium.” Just hours after the Confederates had begun their escape, all order had broken down. Freed slaves, Confederate deserters, and now unemployed government workers mingled angrily on the streets. Weitzel described the scene:
Fires and explosions in all directions; whites and blacks, either drunk or in the highest state of excitement, running to and fro on the streets, apparently engaged in pillage or in saving some of their scanty effects from the fire; it was a yelling, howling mob.5
The Burned District of Richmond after the fires.
The Confederate decision to blow up their ammunition and set fire to military supplies had set off a blazing fire that would destroy hundreds of homes and businesses in the city. To add to the horror of the scene, Weitzel reported, “the convicts broke out of the penitentiary and began an indiscriminate pillage and cut the hose of some of the fire engines.” Many in the streets welcomed the general as a liberator from the looters. Weitzel says that “they rushed around us, hugged and kissed our legs and horses, shouting hallelujah and glory.”6
Women in mourning attire in Richmond after the fires.
The situation grew even worse as Weitzel proceeded into the heart of the city. With the authorities in full retreat, the criminals at the local prison who had broken out were uncontrolled. They even attacked firemen trying to control the raging fires. Finally, Weitzel reached the seat of the Confederate government at the old capitol, where he wrote:
A sad sight met us on reaching Capitol square. It was covered with women and children who had fled here to escape the fire. Some of them had saved a few articles of furniture, but most had only a few articles of bedding, such as a quilt, blanket, or pillow, and were lying upon them. Their poor faces were perfect pictures of utter despair. It was a sight that would have melted a heart of stone.7
Needing to restore order, Weitzel ordered the “The 5th Massachusetts Colored Cavalry”, which he described as “a very fine regiment about 900 strong,” to move in a disciplined march through the streets. The regiment was commanded Colonel Charles F. Adams, Jr., the greatgrandson of President John Adams and the grandson of John Quincy Adams. 8
Weitzel needed to break up the mob, end the looting, reassure African Americans that they were now free from slavery, and demonstrate to die-hard Confederates that the war, and the old racial order, were a thing of the past. The process would begin with the 5th Massachusetts’ disciplined procession through the city. Weitzel wrote that “this fine regiment of colored men made a very great impression on those citizens who saw it.”9
This photo, believed to have been taken shortly after the capture of Richmond, shows freed blacks in front of a building ruined in the fires set during the Confederate retreat. A white officer with Weitzel, Alonzo Draper, later recalled the scene when enslaved Richmonders were told that slavery had been ended; “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…”
A division of his black corps was sent to put out the fires, and Weitzel says that he “directed my staff and headquarter orderlies to scour the city and press into service every able bodied man, white or black, and make them assist in extinguishing the flames.” Saving the city the Confederates had almost destroyed was the objective that day. Although the United States Colored Troops had helped put out the fires destroying Richmond, still, in the words of one Richmonder, “The white citizens felt annoyed that the city should be held mostly by Negro troops.” 10
Weitzel understood the irony of black Union soldiers saving the capital of the Confederacy:
Thus the rebel capitol, fired by men placed in it to defend it, was saved from total destruction by soldiers of the United States, who had taken possession. The bloody victories which opened the gates of Richmond to my command were won at Five Forks and on the left of the Army of the Potomac, but my men won equally as great a one in the city although it was bloodless.11
The battle flag of the 22nd Regiment of the United States Colored Troops, one of the black regiments that occupied Richmond. In 1862 Godfrey Weitzel had been reluctant to command blacks in combat. In 1864 he was placed in command of the largest black force of the war, the XXV Corps. On February 20, 1865 Weitzel had told the men of the XXVth that they were changing the way that Americans viewed blacks. “Let history record that on the banks of the James [River in Virginia] 30,000 freemen not only gained their own liberty, but shattered the prejudice of the world, and gave to the land of their birth peace, union and glory. Source: ORR Series 1 Volume 51 Part I p. 1202. In the year following the war, Weitzel gave his assessment of the use of blacks in his corps; “Its organization was an experiment which has proven a perfect success. The conduct of its soldiers has been such to draw praise from persons most prejudiced against color, and there is no record which should give the colored race more pride than that left by the 25th Army Corps.”
Weitzel soon moved most of his men outside of the city to minimize clashes with the civilians in Richmond. He was ordered to sell the tobacco that had been left behind to raise money to feed the poor there. He also worked to protect the water and gas systems. Then he made himself at home in the mansion that a day earlier had housed the Confederate President Jefferson Davis. A German immigrant and his black troops now occupied the White House of the Confederacy. 12
Two days after Confederate Richmond fell, two days after its black population was liberated, Abraham Lincoln arrived in the city. When Lincoln’s ship arrived at the wharves earlier than expected, the president was not met with a military guard and he decided to walk through the city with a handful of men from the ship. Although he was in the enemy capital, he was soon surrounded by friends. Newly freed slave formed an irregular guard around the president against any attempt to assassinate him. 13
Resource: First Person Account of Lincoln’s Arrival in Richmond
Admiral David Dixon Porter escorted President Abraham Lincoln into Richmond just two days after it was captured. In one of the most dangerous presidential visits to a war zone in United States history, Lincoln met with General Weitzel, spoke with newly freed former slaves, and tried to arrange for the cessation of the war with a Confederate leader. Porter left behind an account of that visit:
I proceeded with Mr. Lincoln in the flag ship the “Malvern” to Richmond on the 4th of April 1865. It was my intention to have made a grand entrance with all the gunboats and I accordingly made my preparations to do so. The river was carefully swept for torpedoes all the way up and the gun boats, torpedo boats, tugs and all, were directed to push on until near the city and await our arrival. We passed vessel after vessel as we proceeded up, all saluting the President with three cheers as the “Malvern” passed. It was a most beautiful sight and one which seemed to impress Mr. Lincoln very pleasantly…
Admiral David Dixon Porter escorted President Abraham Lincoln into Richmond just two days after it was captured. In one of the most dangerous presidential visits to a war zone in United States history, Lincoln met with General Weitzel, spoke with newly freed former slaves, and tried to arrange for the cessation of the war with a Confederate leader. Porter left behind an account of that visit:
I proceeded with Mr. Lincoln in the flag ship the “Malvern” to Richmond on the 4th of April 1865. It was my intention to have made a grand entrance with all the gunboats and I accordingly made my preparations to do so. The river was carefully swept for torpedoes all the way up and the gun boats, torpedo boats, tugs and all, were directed to push on until near the city and await our arrival. We passed vessel after vessel as we proceeded up, all saluting the President with three cheers as the “Malvern” passed. It was a most beautiful sight and one which seemed to impress Mr. Lincoln very pleasantly…
When we had proceeded up the river about five miles we found…the river almost completely obstructed with sunken vessels leaving barely room for a single vessel at a time to get by. Here I took a tug full of marines and proceeded on up with only Mr. Lincoln and myself in the barge in tow…We saw few or no signs of our army in the lower part of the city and not knowing where to land we pulled on up until we got ashore among the rocks in the rapids which brought us to a standstill. The President laughed… [T]the sailors jumping overboard, soon pushed the boat off. We then put our head down stream again and landed in the only practicable looking landing that we saw, where 20 or 30 negroes were at work throwing up…dirt.
Lincoln disembarked at Rockett’s a short distance east of Richmond. The area was used as a Confederate shipyard during the war.
[They] stopped to look at us as we hauled in to the landing and one old fellow who had received some description of the President, immediately threw down his shovel and cried out – “Bress de Lord, dar comes de Messiah. Dar is Massa Abram Linkum sure enuff!” and with that they all dropped work and rushed to the boat to shake hands… I never knew how it was done but no electric wire could have carried the news of the Presidents arrival sooner than it was circulated through Richmond. As far as the eye could see the streets were alive with negroes and poor whites rushing in our direction, and the crowd increased so fast that I had to surround the President with the sailors with fixed bayonets to keep them off.”
Because Lincoln arrived in Richmond ahead of schedule there was no military escort to meet him. Instead he walked through the streets of Richmond with only a small guard of sailors and marines to protect him.
They all wanted to shake hands with Mr. Lincoln or his coat tail or even to kneel down and kiss his boots! The crowd were frantic and in their joy at beholding the President there was danger of our being crushed to death. For the first time I realized the danger in which the President was placed. It would have been so easy for an assassin to put a knife in his back. I longed for the time when I could have him safe under a military escort. Strange to say although Richmond was under military rule there was hardly a soldier to be seen in the lower part of town, nor could I find a cavalry man whom I could send on in advance to announce the arrival of the President of the United States….
Lincoln’s visit is commemorated by this statue of the president and his son Tad in Richmond.
I could see by Mr. Lincoln’s countenance that he felt uneasy, for there were bad featured white men surrounding us… The capture of Richmond had not subdued them and it looked to me as if the only thing that would make them civil would be a few stands of grape and canister fired into their midst. Every window was thrown up in the streets through which we passed, and at every opening was a crowd of eager curious faces. Hatred, contempt, anger, and merriment were depicted on the countenance of the various persons who were looking at the man they had been taught to believe was a monster in human shape, but who in fact carried the kindest of hearts within him and whose soul was overflowing with the most generous sentiments towards the Southern people.
One little incident, and only one, showed that there was a spark of good feeling towards the President and the Union. It was like the fallen tear from the repentant sinner…. A young and pretty girl rushed through the crowd and seizing the President by the hand kissed it and said “God bless you only friend of the South.” Mr. Lincoln must have been a stoic not to have been struck by the conduct of this innocent and pretty girl. He referred to it again when we returned to the ship.
When African Americans bowed to him, Lincoln reportedly told them that they no longer had to bow to any man.
With all the noise and confusion there was no disreputable act committed or one disrespectful word used towards the president or our party. Still forcing our way through the dense crowd we finally came to a squad of cavalry and I requested one of them to go to head quarters and announce the coming of the president. In ten minutes a company of horsemen with General Shepley or Weitzel at their head, came galloping down the street and we were safe from the crowd. “Save me from my friends!” is the old saying…
Disagreeable as it was on some accounts, there was a spontaneous manifestation of pleasure among the crowd of negroes, not to be met within the planned receptions extended to our public men at the north which latter are either for political effect or organized by persons who have “axes to grind.” I should have preferred to see the President of the United States entering the subjugated stronghold of the rebels with an escort more befitting his high station, yet that would have looked as if he came as a conqueror to exult over a brave but fallen enemy. He came instead as a peacemaker, his hand extended to all who desired to take it. Kindness beamed upon his face, a face that overlooked every man in the crowd and could not be seen by all. I doubt if there was a person in Richmond who saw the President that day who did not say “This cannot be the man who has been represented to us as a monster, we see no horns or hoofs and there is less of the dirt about him than there is in Jefferson Davis.”
I was glad when the President was safely housed at Jeff Davis’ head quarters, a rather handsome house fitted up with some pretence of presidential style. There surrounded by the army, I felt that he was secure. In the meantime, the crowd of upturned faces around the house was growing thicker. The blacks and poor whites mingling together were all vociferating for the President who came to the door, bowed to them and was received with three cheers.
After resting awhile Generals Shepley and Weitzel proposed a promenade around the town and packing the President and myself into a carriage and surrounding us with a guard we visited what was left of Richmond which had been set fire by the retreating rebels. It has not yet been ascertained who gave the barbarous order to burn the town as the rebels fled, but it was given and thousands were left destitute by the inhuman act. At 4 p.m. I got the President safely back on board the “Malvern,” determined that he should not go on shore again while I had charge of him. Source: Porter Papers
Resource: Weitzel’s account of his actions during the occupation of Richmond can be found at ENTRY of THE UNITED STATES FORCES into RICHMOND, VA. April 3, 1865 CALLING TOGETHER OF THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE AND REVOCATION OF THE SAME by GODFREY WEITZEL
Video: Author Jay Winik on Lincoln’s Visit to Richmond
Video: Author Jay Winik on Lincoln’s Visit to Richmond
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Sources:
1. ENTRY of THE UNITED STATES FORCES into RICHMOND, VA. April 3, 1865 CALLING TOGETHER OF THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE AND
REVOCATION OF THE SAME by GODFREY WEITZEL Major, Corps of Engineers AND Brevet Major General, United States Army published by The Richmond Civil War Centennial Committee (1965).
2. ENTRY of THE UNITED STATES FORCES into RICHMOND, VA. April 3, 1865 CALLING TOGETHER OF THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE AND
REVOCATION OF THE SAME by GODFREY WEITZEL Major, Corps of Engineers AND Brevet Major General, United States Army published by The Richmond Civil War Centennial Committee (1965).
3. ENTRY of THE UNITED STATES FORCES into RICHMOND, VA. April 3, 1865 CALLING TOGETHER OF THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE AND
REVOCATION OF THE SAME by GODFREY WEITZEL Major, Corps of Engineers AND Brevet Major General, United States Army published by The Richmond Civil War Centennial Committee (1965).
4. ENTRY of THE UNITED STATES FORCES into RICHMOND, VA. April 3, 1865 CALLING TOGETHER OF THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE AND
REVOCATION OF THE SAME by GODFREY WEITZEL Major, Corps of Engineers AND Brevet Major General, United States Army published by The Richmond Civil War Centennial Committee (1965).
5. ENTRY of THE UNITED STATES FORCES into RICHMOND, VA. April 3, 1865 CALLING TOGETHER OF THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE AND
REVOCATION OF THE SAME by GODFREY WEITZEL Major, Corps of Engineers AND Brevet Major General, United States Army published by The Richmond Civil War Centennial Committee (1965).
6. ENTRY of THE UNITED STATES FORCES into RICHMOND, VA. April 3, 1865 CALLING TOGETHER OF THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE AND
REVOCATION OF THE SAME by GODFREY WEITZEL Major, Corps of Engineers AND Brevet Major General, United States Army published by The Richmond Civil War Centennial Committee (1965).
7. ENTRY of THE UNITED STATES FORCES into RICHMOND, VA. April 3, 1865 CALLING TOGETHER OF THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE AND
REVOCATION OF THE SAME by GODFREY WEITZEL Major, Corps of Engineers AND Brevet Major General, United States Army published by The Richmond Civil War Centennial Committee (1965).
8. ENTRY of THE UNITED STATES FORCES into RICHMOND, VA. April 3, 1865 CALLING TOGETHER OF THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE AND
REVOCATION OF THE SAME by GODFREY WEITZEL Major, Corps of Engineers AND Brevet Major General, United States Army published by The Richmond Civil War Centennial Committee (1965).
9. ENTRY of THE UNITED STATES FORCES into RICHMOND, VA. April 3, 1865 CALLING TOGETHER OF THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE AND
REVOCATION OF THE SAME by GODFREY WEITZEL Major, Corps of Engineers AND Brevet Major General, United States Army published by The Richmond Civil War Centennial Committee (1965).
10. City Under Siege: Richmond in the Civil War by Mike Wright quoting John Jones Published by Cooper Square Books (1995) p. 270; ENTRY of THE UNITED STATES FORCES into RICHMOND, VA. April 3, 1865 CALLING TOGETHER OF THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE AND
REVOCATION OF THE SAME by GODFREY WEITZEL Major, Corps of Engineers AND Brevet Major General, United States Army published by The Richmond Civil War Centennial Committee (1965).
11. ENTRY of THE UNITED STATES FORCES into RICHMOND, VA. April 3, 1865 CALLING TOGETHER OF THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE AND
REVOCATION OF THE SAME by GODFREY WEITZEL Major, Corps of Engineers AND Brevet Major General, United States Army published by The Richmond Civil War Centennial Committee (1965).
12. ENTRY of THE UNITED STATES FORCES into RICHMOND, VA. April 3, 1865 CALLING TOGETHER OF THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE AND
REVOCATION OF THE SAME by GODFREY WEITZEL Major, Corps of Engineers AND Brevet Major General, United States Army published by The Richmond Civil War Centennial Committee (1965).
13. ENTRY of THE UNITED STATES FORCES into RICHMOND, VA. April 3, 1865 CALLING TOGETHER OF THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE AND
REVOCATION OF THE SAME by GODFREY WEITZEL Major, Corps of Engineers AND Brevet Major General, United States Army published by The Richmond Civil War Centennial Committee (1965).
REVOCATION OF THE SAME by GODFREY WEITZEL Major, Corps of Engineers AND Brevet Major General, United States Army published by The Richmond Civil War Centennial Committee (1965).
2. ENTRY of THE UNITED STATES FORCES into RICHMOND, VA. April 3, 1865 CALLING TOGETHER OF THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE AND
REVOCATION OF THE SAME by GODFREY WEITZEL Major, Corps of Engineers AND Brevet Major General, United States Army published by The Richmond Civil War Centennial Committee (1965).
3. ENTRY of THE UNITED STATES FORCES into RICHMOND, VA. April 3, 1865 CALLING TOGETHER OF THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE AND
REVOCATION OF THE SAME by GODFREY WEITZEL Major, Corps of Engineers AND Brevet Major General, United States Army published by The Richmond Civil War Centennial Committee (1965).
4. ENTRY of THE UNITED STATES FORCES into RICHMOND, VA. April 3, 1865 CALLING TOGETHER OF THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE AND
REVOCATION OF THE SAME by GODFREY WEITZEL Major, Corps of Engineers AND Brevet Major General, United States Army published by The Richmond Civil War Centennial Committee (1965).
5. ENTRY of THE UNITED STATES FORCES into RICHMOND, VA. April 3, 1865 CALLING TOGETHER OF THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE AND
REVOCATION OF THE SAME by GODFREY WEITZEL Major, Corps of Engineers AND Brevet Major General, United States Army published by The Richmond Civil War Centennial Committee (1965).
6. ENTRY of THE UNITED STATES FORCES into RICHMOND, VA. April 3, 1865 CALLING TOGETHER OF THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE AND
REVOCATION OF THE SAME by GODFREY WEITZEL Major, Corps of Engineers AND Brevet Major General, United States Army published by The Richmond Civil War Centennial Committee (1965).
7. ENTRY of THE UNITED STATES FORCES into RICHMOND, VA. April 3, 1865 CALLING TOGETHER OF THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE AND
REVOCATION OF THE SAME by GODFREY WEITZEL Major, Corps of Engineers AND Brevet Major General, United States Army published by The Richmond Civil War Centennial Committee (1965).
8. ENTRY of THE UNITED STATES FORCES into RICHMOND, VA. April 3, 1865 CALLING TOGETHER OF THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE AND
REVOCATION OF THE SAME by GODFREY WEITZEL Major, Corps of Engineers AND Brevet Major General, United States Army published by The Richmond Civil War Centennial Committee (1965).
9. ENTRY of THE UNITED STATES FORCES into RICHMOND, VA. April 3, 1865 CALLING TOGETHER OF THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE AND
REVOCATION OF THE SAME by GODFREY WEITZEL Major, Corps of Engineers AND Brevet Major General, United States Army published by The Richmond Civil War Centennial Committee (1965).
10. City Under Siege: Richmond in the Civil War by Mike Wright quoting John Jones Published by Cooper Square Books (1995) p. 270; ENTRY of THE UNITED STATES FORCES into RICHMOND, VA. April 3, 1865 CALLING TOGETHER OF THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE AND
REVOCATION OF THE SAME by GODFREY WEITZEL Major, Corps of Engineers AND Brevet Major General, United States Army published by The Richmond Civil War Centennial Committee (1965).
11. ENTRY of THE UNITED STATES FORCES into RICHMOND, VA. April 3, 1865 CALLING TOGETHER OF THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE AND
REVOCATION OF THE SAME by GODFREY WEITZEL Major, Corps of Engineers AND Brevet Major General, United States Army published by The Richmond Civil War Centennial Committee (1965).
12. ENTRY of THE UNITED STATES FORCES into RICHMOND, VA. April 3, 1865 CALLING TOGETHER OF THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE AND
REVOCATION OF THE SAME by GODFREY WEITZEL Major, Corps of Engineers AND Brevet Major General, United States Army published by The Richmond Civil War Centennial Committee (1965).
13. ENTRY of THE UNITED STATES FORCES into RICHMOND, VA. April 3, 1865 CALLING TOGETHER OF THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE AND
REVOCATION OF THE SAME by GODFREY WEITZEL Major, Corps of Engineers AND Brevet Major General, United States Army published by The Richmond Civil War Centennial Committee (1965).
This was originally published March 19, 2015 in Long island Wins Immigrants’ Civil War.
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