Government
What Richmond Looked Like After Confederate Troops Set it on Fire
In the final days of the Civil War, fleeing southern troops burnt the city to the ground.
During the Civil War, Confederate forces vowed to keep the Union Army out of Richmond, Virginia, at any cost. That included burning the city to the ground as Northern troops approached.
On Evacuation Sunday (April 2, 1865), President of the Confederate States Jefferson Davis and his cabinet fled south, while soldiers set fire to Richmond's bridges and the buildings that stored their weapons and supplies. Ulysses S. Grant and his troops arrived to find Richmond on fire.