I think it was Bruce Catton who wrote that the North was confident of its success when it saw the Army of Northern Virginia’s battle line towards the end of the war, and the Southern regimental flags were extremely close together.
Yes. They were an extreme ragtag band by April of ‘65. Decimated is the word. To put it in perspective the 29th Va had ~500 men in the field in Feb of ‘65. After leaving the trenches of Petersburg and participating in the battles of Dinwiddie Courthouse, Five Forks and Sailor’s Creek 31 showed and were paroled at Appomattox. My ancestors parole docs are online. I have a copy.