 Complete the following phrase:  As Lees army attempted to escape to Farmville, Longstreet was engaged at Sailors Creek on April 6. The Confederates were unable to reach the town, but with the assistance of troops under Anderson and Ewell, managed to prevent federal troops from blocking the armys last path of escape. The overall battle ended in disaster, with nearly 7,000 of the 10,000 Confederate troops engaged killed, wounded, or captured. By April 7, Lees army had been reduced from nearly 40,000 men on March 31 to 25,000. A group of Confederate officers including the Chief of Artillery William N. Pendleton concluded that the time had come to ask Lee to open negotiations for the armys surrender. Pendleton approached Longstreet and asked him to intercede with Lee, but he refused, saying, If General Lee doesnt know when to surrender until I tell him, he will never know. Nevertheless, Pendleton approached Lee, who was in communication with Grant on the subject of Confederate surrender, but refused to surrender the army. Lee held his last conference of war on the night of April 8. It was decided that at daybreak, Longstreet would hold the Union troops back while John B. Gordon would lead an escape towards Lynchburg, and then cover his retreat. At the 