"Wrapt in Smoke"

— Wilson-Kautz Raid —

In June 1864, to deny Gen. Robert E. Lee the use of the South Side R.R. and the Richmond and Danville R.R., Gen. Ulysses S. Grant sent Gen. James H. Wilson and Gen. August V. Kautz south of Petersburg on a cavalry raid to destroy track and rolling stock. Wilson, entrenched at Nottoway Court House, received word of Kautz's success in destroying Burkeville Junction early on the morning of June 24. He therefore decided to withdraw from the field by the Hungarytown Road and join Kautz at Meherrin Station, which stood here. Wilson's advance arrived here about 3 p.m. the same day.

"About five o'clock we reached Meherrin's Station?on the Danville Railroad. Here in both directions could be seen the desolating effects of war. The Depot was burnt to the ground, the water tank was still standing but its supporting posts were slowly consuming. The road bed was wrapt in smoke as far as the eye could reach?and the few inhabitants visible were dejected and despairing, and although now cringing, their dislike toward us could [not] be entirely hid."
- Quartermaster Sgt. Roger Hannaford, 2d Ohio Cavalry

(sidebar)
Confederate president Jefferson Davis, members of his Cabinet, and a guard from the Confederate navy to protect the Confederate treasury passed through Meherrin Station on their way to Danville after the evacuation of Richmond on April 2, 1865. Meherrin Station, like so many other communities on the Richmond and Danville R.R., was used as a water and fuel stop. While there is no documentary proof, it is probable that the train stopped in Meherrin Station to refuel before continuing south. Davis assembled the remnants of his government at the Sutherlin Mansion (now a museum) in Danville, making that city the last capital of the Confederacy. Since then, there have been persistent rumors of Confederate gold buried along Davis's escape route to prevent its capture by Federal forces. Those rumors have become folklore, and people continue to hunt for the gold.

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