... this place as a point d'appui for the ulterior operations of the Army of the Potomac was of prime importance. Being joined by the cavalry division of Kautz and the division of colored troops under Hinks , Smith's force, during the night of the 14th, passed to the south side of the Appomattox on a ponton-bridge, and pushed forward, on the morning of the 15th, towards Petersburg, distant seven miles. T...