Petersburg, Appomattox and the end of the war George H. Steuart (brigadier general)

gravestone of brigadier general george h. steuart , other members of steuart family, green mount cemetery, baltimore.

steuart exchanged later in summer of 1864, returning command brigade in army of northern virginia, in division of major general george pickett. steuart s brigade consisted of 9th, 14th, 38th, 53rd , 57th virginia regiments, , served in trenches north of james river during siege of petersburg (june 9, 1864 – march 25, 1865). stage of war, confederate supplies had dwindled point lee s army began go hungry, , theft of food became serious problem. steuart forced send armed guards supply depot @ petersburg in order ensure men s packages not stolen looters.

he continued lead brigade in pickett s division during appomattox campaign (march 29 – april 9, 1865), @ battle of 5 forks (april 1, 1865), , @ sayler s creek (april 6, 1865), last 2 battles marking effective end of confederate resistance. during 5 forks general pickett had been distracted shad bake, , steuart left in command of infantry, bore brunt of huge union assault, general sheridan leading around 30,000 men against pickett s 10,000. consequences more disastrous @ spotsylvania previous year, @ least 5,000 men falling prisoner sheridan s forces. end of confederate resistance days away. @ sayler s creek lee s starving , exhausted army fell apart. upon seeing survivors streaming along road, lee exclaimed in front of maj. gen. william mahone, god, has army dissolved? replied, no, general, here troops ready duty.

steuart continued fighting until end, surrendering lee general ulysses s. grant @ appomattox court house on april 9, 1865, 1 of 22 brigadiers out of lee s original 146. according 1 maryland veteran, no-one in war gave more , conscientiously every faculty, every energy in him southern cause .