Judson Knight Delivers News of General Lee's Final Retreat

Photo By Capt. Sasha Mokhtari | "The Battle of Petersburg" by Currier and Ives (Library of Congress)  

UNITED STATES

04.03.2023

Courtesy Story

U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence

by Mike E. Bigelow, INSCOM Command Historian

2 APRIL 1865
On 2 April 1865, Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, the commanding general of the Union’s armies, learned that Gen. Robert E. Lee, commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, had decided to evacuate the lines around Petersburg. This intelligence, delivered by Scout Judson Knight, prompted Grant to push his forces forward to pursue Lee’s army and to capture Richmond, the Confederate capital.

For the previous ten months, Grant’s and Lee’s forces had been locked in trench warfare around Petersburg, about twenty-five miles south of Richmond. Lee could not retreat without leaving the capital unguarded. Grant’s forces, however, could not break the enemy’s lines. Consequently, an ugly stalemate resulted.

As the armies faced each other, Col. George H. Sharpe and his Bureau of Military Information (BMI) continued to keep tabs on the movement of the Confederate forces. With skills and practices honed by two years of war, the BMI was largely successful in keeping Grant informed of what Lee was planning. Moreover, since the summer of 1864, Sharpe had been in contact with the remarkable Elizabeth Van Lew. Although the 47-year-old Van Lew was a member of pre-war Richmond society, she was also a staunch Unionist. Through her iron will, she held the Unionist minority in Richmond together. Initially, she provided assistance to Union prisoners of war. Later, she developed a wide network of information sources throughout the Confederate capital. [See This Week in MI History #95]

Sharpe’s primary contact with Van Lew was Judson Knight, the BMI’s chief scout. Knight had served as a military scout for Maj. Gen. Phillip Kearny until illness forced him out of the Army in late 1862. After a brief stint with the War Department’s National Detective Force, he joined Sharpe’s BMI in April 1863. By 1865, he had wide experience scouting in northern Virginia. The  

resourceful Knight worked well with the capable Sharpe. Although both were New Yorkers in their mid-thirties, their partnership was largely based on mutual respect and success. Unsurprisingly, Sharpe chose Knight to initiate contact with Van Lew in the early summer of 1864. Subsequently, Knight or one of his scouts would meet with a courier from Van Lew at one of five sites to the southeast of Richmond.

Over the ensuing months, Van Lew and her sources provided valuable information and insight on the living conditions and military movements within Richmond. In late March 1865, the Unionists noted preparations to evacuate the city. One source reported that Jefferson Davis, the Confederate president, “had his things all packed up and was ready to leave.” Other reports described loads of machinery and boxes of government records leaving Richmond. Reflecting on this information, Grant thought Lee would try to escape southward to North Carolina.

To counter this possibly, Grant sent forces to cut Richmond’s railroad connections to the south. On 1 April, forces under Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan punched through the Confederate lines and pushed toward the railroad. The next day, Grant launched a massive attack on Petersburg’s entrenchments.

When Grant launched his 2 April attack, Knight was awaiting one of Van Lew’s couriers. The information he received was dramatic. Grant’s assault had been too much for the defenders and Lee had telegrammed President Davis of his intention to retreat from Petersburg and Richmond the next morning. Recognizing the information’s importance, Knight rushed back to Sharpe. By early evening, Grant and his staff knew of Lee’s intentions.

Immediately, Grant pushed his forces forward, not giving the Confederate army a chance to regroup. On 3 April, Union forces captured Richmond. Within a week, General Lee had surrendered at Appomattox.

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• Date Taken: 04.03.2023
• Date Posted: 04.03.2023 11:13
• Story ID: 441835
• Location: US