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1865] Richmond evacuated. Lee's retreat. 539 before they were captured. By evening, however, of April 2 the Unionist forces had possession of all except the inner line of defences immediately enclosing the city from the Appomattox river on the east to the same stream on the west. When night compelled a cessation of the attack, General Grant ordered that the assault should be resumed as early as possible on the morning of April 3. But with the dawn of that day, it was discovered that the remaining works were all empty. At three o'clock on the afternoon of April % General Lee had issued his order for the evacuation of both Petersburg and Richmond ; and by dawn of the 3rd his remaining forces were marching rapidly toward Amelia Court House, in the effort to escape to Danville or Lynchburg. Grant himself entered Petersburg early on the 3rd, and, sending for Mr Lincoln, then at City Point, had the pleasure of welcoming the President to the captured city later in the day. General Weitzel, who had been left in command before Richmond, also soon learned of the flight of the Confederates; and the Southern capital was formally surrendered to him at a quarter past eight on the same morning. (6) THE SURRENDER. When the Federal troops entered Richmond they found that the retreating Confederates had by official order set fire to the bridges, the steamers at the wharves, and several buildings containing various depots of supplies; and that from these the fire had broadened into a great conflagration, which by nightfall burned out the heart of the city. It was the Federal troops who organised resistance to the flames, put a stop to general pillage, restored public order, and for a considerable period afterwards supplied rations to the inhabitants, who, by order of their own government, were left in a houseless and starving condition. In his flight from his entrenchments, Lee's first hope was, by following the Richmond and Danville railroad toward the south-west, to reach Danville and form a junction with General Johnston ; and to this end he directed supplies to meet him at Amelia Court House and at Burke's Station, the latter being the point where the Petersburg and Lynchburg railroad, running west, crosses the Danville road. But when his hungry troops reached Amelia Court House they found no food. This compelled a halt of twenty-four hours to gather what they could from the neigh- bourhood, already stripped bare. The delay gave Grant's pursuing columns such advantage that, while Lee was still at Amelia on April 4, half of Sheridan's horse and the 5th corps of infantry had already reached Jetersville on the Danville road, exactly in Lee's path toward Burke's Station, where they were joined on April 5 by two other infantry detachments. Lee's report admits that " this deprived us of the use of the railroad, and rendered it impracticable to procure from Danville the supplies ordered to meet us at points of our march." CH. XVI.