VALOR
A Strategic Delay
Appomattox, United States
As Lee’s Confederate Army retreated west, Federal forces blocked their way. Near this spot, Union artillery pieces commanded by Lieutenant James H. Lord and a cavalry brigade led by Brevet Brigadier General Charles Smith proved a strategic delay to the Confederate retreat – allowing time for other Federal units to move into position and ensure General Robert E. Lee’s surrender on April 9, 1865.<br><br>