On the 5th I marched again with Ord’s command until within about ten miles of Burkesville, where I stopped to let his army pass.  I then received from Sheridan the following dispatch: 

“The whole of Lee’s army is at or near Amelia Court House, and on this side of it.  General Davies, whom I sent out to Painesville on their right flank, has just captured six pieces of artillery and some wagons.  We can capture the Army of Northern Virginia if force enough can be thrown to this point, and then advance upon it.  My cavalry was at Burkesville yesterday, and six miles beyond, on the Danville Road, last night.  General Lee is at Amelia Court House in person.  They are out of rations, or nearly so.  They were advancing up the railroad towards Burkesville yesterday, when we intercepted them at this point.”

It now became a life and death struggle with Lee to get south to his provisions.

Sheridan, thinking the enemy might turn off immediately towards Farmville, moved Davies’s brigade of cavalry out to watch him.  Davies found the movement had already commenced.  He attacked and drove away their cavalry which was escorting wagons to the west, capturing and burning 180 wagons.  He also captured five pieces of artillery.  The Confederate infantry then moved against him and probably would have handled him very roughly, but Sheridan had sent two more brigades of cavalry to follow Davies, and they came to his relief in time.  A sharp engagement took place between these three brigades of cavalry and the enemy’s infantry, but the latter was repulsed.

Meade himself reached Jetersville about two o’clock in the afternoon, but in advance of all his troops.  The head of Humphreys’s corps followed in about an hour afterwards.  Sheridan stationed the troops as they came up, at Meade’s request, the latter still being very sick.  He extended two divisions of this corps off to the west of the road to the left of Griffin’s corps, and one division to the right.  The cavalry by this time had also come up, and they were put still farther off to the left, Sheridan feeling certain that there lay the route by which the enemy intended to escape.  He wanted to attack, feeling that if time was given, the enemy would get away; but Meade prevented this, preferring to wait till his troops were all up.

At this juncture Sheridan sent me a letter which had been handed to him by a colored man, with a note from himself saying that he wished I was there myself.  The letter was dated Amelia Court House, April 5th, and signed by Colonel Taylor.  It was to his mother, and showed the demoralization of the Confederate army.  Sheridan’s note also gave me the information as here related of the movements of that day.  I received a second message from Sheridan on the 5th, in which he urged more emphatically the importance of my presence.  This was brought to me by a scout in gray uniform.  It was written on tissue paper, and wrapped up in tin-foil such as