VA-SA41 Union Army Enters Richmond

Marker text: UNION ARMY ENTERS RICHMOND

Here Maj. Gen. Godfrey Weitzel, commander of the Army of the James, entered and took possession of Richmond at 8:15 A.M. on 3 April 1865 after receiving the surrender of the confederate capital from Mayor Joseph Mayo a few miles east. The first units of Weitzel's command to enter the city were six regiments from Brig. Gen. Edward H. Ripley's 1st Brigade of the XXIVth Army Corps, and U.S. Colored Troops from infantry and cavalry regiments of the XXVth Army Corps. During the next twenty-four hours, the Union troops extinguished the fire that destroyed almost 40 blocks extending along the river and north to Capitol Square, restored order, and occupied Confederate office buildings.

Department of Historic Resources, 1994.