Custis Lee, son of Robert E. Lee, turns back a force of 500 cavalry under Ulric Dahlgreen, 2 miles west of Richmond. General Judson Kilpatrick had called off a planned assault earlier in the day.
General P. G. T. Beauregard [CS] is relieved of command of the Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida so he can assume command of the Richmond (Virginia) defenses.
With the Petersburg line crumbling, Lee informs Davis he will abandon his position that evening. The Confederate government evacuates Richmond and Mayor Joseph Mayo surrenders the city to General Godfrey Weitzel.
President Lincoln visits Richmond, walking to the Confederate White House among cheering crowds, mostly freed slaves. A detachment of 10 men protected him.
At the start of the Civil War, Richmond, Virginia was the largest industrial center of the South. When Virginia offered its' state capital to be the new capital of the Confederacy, industry played a major role in the selection, although proximity to battlefields and the defensive nature of the rivers around the city also played a major role in its selection.