On April 3, 1865, Federal troops prepared to march into Richmond. A cavalry detachment under Majors Stevens and Graves moved up the Osborne Turnpike, east of Richmond. Here they met Richmond Mayor Joseph Mayo and a small party moving toward them in a carriage flying a white flag. The Mayor passed a note to Stevens advising him that Confederate forces had withdrawn from Richmond and asking that Federal troops occupy the city, some parts of which were on fire.
Stevens forwarded Mayo’s note to his commander, Major General (MG) Godfrey Weitzel. At 8:15 A.M. at Richmond’s city hall, Weitzel formally accepted the terms of surrender. The Union forces assisted in extinguishing the fires, started before dawn by Confederate soldiers trying to destroy military supplies. By midafternoon order had begun to be restored to the city.
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