 In Danville , Benjamin shared a room with another refugee , in the home of a banker . For a week , Danville served as capital of the Confederacy , until word came of Lee 's surrender at Appomattox Court House . With no army to shield the Confederate government , it would be captured by Union forces within days , so Davis and his Cabinet , including Benjamin , fled south to Greensboro , North Carolina . Five minutes after the train passed over the Haw River , Union cavalry raiders burned the bridge , trapping the trains that followed Davis 's . 
