During the morning of April 6, after being warned that Lee's Army was on the march, Ord and Gibbon had moved cautiously up the railroad and found Longstreet's force digging in near Rice's Station.[5][6] Gibbon's skirmishers slowly formed for an attack and had a minor confrontation with the entrenched Confederates.[5] As darkness approached and being unsure of the size of the Confederate force, Ord decided to wait for Sheridan and Meade to come up from behind.[6]
The Union force suffered 66 casualties before going into bivouac as darkness approached.[2] Exact Confederate casualties are unknown.[2]
With the Union Army nearby after the disastrous Confederate defeat at Sailor's Creek, under General Lee's order, Longstreet withdrew during the night towards Farmville, Virginia where rations were waiting.[7]
Footnotes
^This is the conclusion reached by the National Park Service in the CWSAC Virginia Battlefield Profiles.
Notes
^ abc"CWSAC Virginia Battlefield Profiles"(PDF). Update to the Civil War Sites Advisory Committee Report on the Nation's Civil War Battlefields. National Park Service. pp. 243, 244. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
^ abcdSalmon, John S., The Official Virginia Civil War Battlefield Guide, Stackpole Books, 2001, ISBN978-0-8117-2868-3. p. 490.
^ abcdeCalkins, Chris. The Appomattox Campaign, March 29 – April 9, 1865. Conshohocken, PA: Combined Books, 1997. ISBN978-0-938-28954-8. p. 115.
^ abMarvel, William. Lee's Last Retreat: The Flight to Appomattox. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2002. ISBN978-0-8078-5703-8. p. 88.