Hatcher’s Run Feb 1865

[KepiBrit]

Hi, I’m slowly getting used to this great site, and thanks for the interest shown in my posts. It would be remiss of me not to post something on the Battle forum, given my main interest is the much neglected and misunderstood Battle of Hatcher’s Run. I draw your attention to my website

The Battle of Hatcher's Run | American Civil War history

American Civil War history The Battle of Hatcher's Run

www.hatchersrunbattle.com

that features a free to read 70,000 word scholarly ebook and represents the most detailed analysis of the battle to date. As well as background information and links to articles there is a link to a Facebook group that discusses the battle. This features many senior US historians. I will endeavour to share some of these posts on this site. It really is a fascinating 3 day battle with various quirky tales, there is a post on this site about Sallie the mascot dog and then there is the death of newlywed John Pegram. What attracted me to the battle was the way that it’s been treated by posterity. Completely ignored by Bruce Catton, Douglass Freeman and James McPherson to name but three! It gets one line in a larger footnote in Battles & Leaders. And what is written about the battle often contains many errors. Before I recently revamped the wiki page it was a derisory 2 pages of low quality stuff. So I’m pleased to add this compelling wintery battle to your battle forum.

 

[5fish]

Here is the reason for the Battle of Hatcher's Run: this train station or depot that is still standing... The article leaves this battle out, and Five Forks achieves the goal of this station...

The South Side Rail Road and Station in Petersburg

The South Side Rail Road (as it was known originally) was chartered in March 1846, two months before the United States declared war on Mexico. This rail line ran 124 miles west to Lynchburg. It eventually superseded the Upper Appomattox Canal, which had long provided continuous waterborne...

www.historicpetersburg.org

The South Side Rail Road was the last of the five Petersburg rail lines to remain under Confederate control. During the Siege of Petersburg that began on June 15, 1864, Union Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant continually attempted to get around Lee’s right flank and cut the South Side Rail Road. This was his objective for the attack at Peebles’ (or Jones’s) Farm from September 30 to October 2, 1864, but it was unsuccessful.

The famed bridge...

South Side Railroad during the Civil War - Encyclopedia Virginia

Confederate Rail Lines During the Union army’s siege of Petersburg (June 15, 1864–April 2, 1865), the City Point portion of the railroad was of vital importance to Union general Ulysses S. Grant. Controlling the rail system gave Grant the dual benefit of quickly moving and supplying his own army...

encyclopediavirginia.org

 

[5fish]

More on the South Side Railroad... There was a final battle for the station called Southland.

Battle of Sutherland's Station - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

When Miles' division of three brigades returned, it faced abandoned trenches. Humphreys wanted to immediately move against Heth, but Meade had ordered all the Union infantry to turn and face Petersburg. Humphreys responded by turning to the north, but left Miles behind to deal with Heth.

Miles pursued the retiring Confederates up the Claiborne Road as far as Sutherland's Station (nineteen miles from Petersburg). There, Heth had regrouped four Confederate brigades in an attempt to defend the South Side Railroad, their left flank anchored at Ocran Methodist Church. By now, Heth had learned that Lt. Gen. A. P. Hill had been killed earlier in the day, and now he was in command of the Third Army Corps as its senior division commander. Dodging Federal patrols, he hastened to Petersburg, where he found that Lee had instead decided to disband the corps and give its units to James Longstreet.

South Side Railroad

South Side Railroad

www.virginiaplaces.org

The South Side Railroad was chartered in 1846, and connected Petersburg to Lynchburg in 1854. It was built with a 5' gauge, as was the Richmond and Danville Railroad which it intersected at Burkesville and the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad at Lynchburg. The Orange and Alexandria Railroad, which reached Lynchburg in 1860, was built with a 4' 8.5" gauge.1 James M. Bisbee, "The history of the South Side Railroad, 1846-1870," Master thesis, University of Richmond, 1994, https://scholarship.richmond.edu/masters-theses/590/; "Orange & Alexandria," Confederate Railroads, http://www.csa-railroads.com/Orange_and_Alexandria.htm (last checked August 17, 2020)

 

[KepiBrit]

The issue here is that capturing the SouthSide RR was never part of Grant’s 8th Offensive mission.
many people at the time and up to today have claimed that it was, but it wasn’t the case.
The 6th Offensive Oct 64 resulting in The Burgess Mill battle certainly was targeting the South Side RR.
Why this myth arose and why It’s lasted the decades is a strange story.

 

[5fish]

Th

Why this myth arose and why It’s lasted the decades is a strange story.

I would say that the 7th Offensive is the Battle of Hatcher's Run, and I agree that this was a raid with cover action that the Confederates took as a significant step, escalating into a full-blown battle.

The 8th Offensive action at Five Forks was an attack on Lee's last supply line, specifically at Southland Station. Grant systematically cut off the rail lines to Petersburg, for he knew that logistics wins wars... Grant never tried to push towards Richmond.

 

[5fish]

Trying to find these units...

The station was a high-value target for the Union forces, and the frequency of shells landing in and around the station often caused trains coming from the west to stop at the Fleet Street crossing near Campbell’s Bridge. Three major Federal cavalry raids targeted the South Side Rail Road. To mitigate this threat to the railroad, the South Side Rail Road Guards were formed from Captain Henry D. Bird’s Company, Hood’s Battalion, Virginia Reserves, on August 6, 1864.

Hood’s Virginia Reserves Battalion Infantry

Editor's Note: Do you have information on this unit’s role at the Siege of Petersburg? Please contact us using the Contact button in the menu at the top of

www.beyondthecrater.com

Here is a link that mentions the use of a military road, and an army highway is created, usually by an army to move men and goods. If there is one military road, I bet there were many in and around Petersburg.

The Battle of Boydton Plank Road: October 27-28, 1864

Name: The Battle of Boydton Plank Road Other Names: Hatcher’s Run, Burgess’ Mill Location: Dinwiddie County Campaign: Richmond-Petersburg Campaign

www.beyondthecrater.com

 

[KepiBrit]

Th


I would say that the 7th Offensive is the Battle of Hatcher's Run, and I agree that this was a raid with cover action that the Confederates took as a significant step, escalating into a full-blown battle.

The 8th Offensive action at Five Forks was an attack on Lee's last supply line, specifically at Southland Station. Grant systematically cut off the rail lines to Petersburg, for he knew that logistics wins wars... Grant never tried to push towards Richmond.

There seems conflicting views of what the 7th Petersburg offensive was. I follow the notation in beyondthecrater website which has the Hatchers Run battle as part of the 8th Offensive. And the actions after March 28 being the 9th Offensive. Earl Hess for example takes a different view.

 

[5fish]

Here is a story I have not read before....

Murder and Mayhem Ride the Rails - Union Soldiers Rampage in Virginia

Smoke and fire filled the skies south of Petersburg in December 1864 as the Army of the Potomac’s V Corps targeted the Weldon Railroad. During a raid

www.historynet.com

 

[5fish]

A little more...

Camp near Petersburg, Va (Dec 15th 1864)

I feel like I probably spend too much time blogging about Civil War history on this site, when we have so many collections here at Special Collections and University Archives. But, what can I say? …

vtspecialcollections.wordpress.com

 

[5fish]

Here is an interesting battle in the days leading up to the Battle of Five Forks... The Union left the end of their line open or up in the air... Lee saw it and ordered an attack, but it did not end as he wanted...

The Battle of White Oak Road, March 31, 1865 - Emerging Civil War

The initial Union movement during the final offensive against Petersburg had finally given Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant control of the Boydton Plank Road. With the South Side Railroad on his mind, Grant consolidated his position on March 31 and waited for weather conditions more agreeable for a...

emergingcivilwar.com

After experiencing brief success below the White Oak Road that afternoon, the Confederate cause was further dampened by a determined Union counterattack that restored the front and sealed the fate of the Confederates at Five Forks, five miles to the west of the battlefield.

 

[5fish]

A little more...

Battle of White Oak Road (1865) | Civil War

Learn about the Battle of White Oak Road, a key battle that took place during the Appomattox Campaign of the Civil War. Union victory.

www.americanhistorycentral.com

March 31, 1865 — Clash at White Oak Road
Lee Surprises Warren
On March 31, the rains subsided, and Warren resumed his advance against the Confederate entrenchments along White Oak Road, hoping to drive a wedge in the Confederate lines and to isolate Pickett. As Warren’s division, marching in column, approached White Oak Road at approximately 10:30 a.m., Lee, who was on the scene, ordered an assault by a force of four Confederate brigades that he had hastily assembled. Taken by surprise, Warren’s division collapsed and fled to the rear in disarray.

Confederates Entrench and Warren Counterattacks
Without enough troops to pursue the retreating Federals, Lee called a halt to the Confederate advance and ordered his troops to entrench. As the Confederates hastily created new entrenchments, Warren restored order to his division. At approximately 2:30 in the afternoon, he mounted a counterattack.

Confederates Retreat
The outnumbered Confederates could not halt the Union onslaught, and they retreated to their original lines along White Oak Road. One federal division, commanded by Brigadier General Joshua Chamberlain, breached the Confederate line at approximately 4:30 p.m., achieving Warren’s primary goal of isolating Pickett’s division from Lee’s main force.

Significance of the Battle of White Oak Road
By the end of the day, Lee’s gamble at the Battle of White Oak Road ended with a federal victory. The Union suffered more casualties (approximately 1,800 killed, wounded, and captured/missing) than the Confederacy (approximately 1,100), but the attack failed to stop Warren’s advance. It also isolated Pickett’s division, setting the stage for a costly Confederate defeat at the Battle of Five Forks the next day.

 

[5fish]

Completely ignored by Bruce Catton, Douglass Freeman and James McPherson to name but three!

I see, because every time one reads the last months of the war, it goes from the crater to Lee's surrender, and everything in between is forgotten. The crater was not the original; for the Vicksburg siege had two mines go off on June 25 and July 1st...

 

[5fish]

You need to promote Brig: Gen. Joseph Finegan, a Florida man. He led the attack late that caused the skedaddle, February 6th. My fellow Floridians need their due...

A summary he had moments near the end of the war...

DOMHNAIGH -- On Nov. 17, 1814, Joseph Finegan, a Confederate general in the American Civil War, was born in Clones, County Monaghan. Finegan immigrated to Florida in his early 20s. He built a lumber mill in Jacksonville and then later moved to Fernandia, where he was involved in building railroads and also practiced law. After serving as a delegate to Florida's secession convention, Governor John Milton appointed him to command the state's military. Finegan was praised for organizing two Florida brigades sent to the armies in Virginia and Tennessee. Meanwhile, Finegan's few remaining troops were spread thin trying to protect Florida's enormous shoreline. In early 1864, Union forces under Gen. Truman Seymour landed in Jacksonville and began to move inland. Finegan assembled three brigades and met the Federals at Olustee on February 20, driving them from the field and back to the Atlantic. It was the largest battle fought in Florida during the war. A "Thanks of the Confederate Congress" was later voted for Finegan and his men. Shortly after Olustee, Finegan was transferred to the Army of Northern Virginia, where he led a brigade of Floridians in William Mahone's division of the III Corps. Finegan's independent decision to attack the flank of Barlow's division at Cold Harbor on June 3, 1864, helped repulse the Union assault there, and his brigade also fought well during the Petersburg campaign. Finegan performed very well at Hatcher's Run on Feb. 6, 1865, when he commanded four brigades that held off four Union divisions. After the war, Finegan practiced law and was a state senator in Florida, and then lived in Savannah, Georgia, for a time working as a cotton broker. His final years were spent in Rutledge, Fla., where he died October 29, 1885. Finegan, who was said at the end to still be an "unreconstructed rebel," was buried in Old City Cemetery in Jacksonville.

 

[jgoodguy]

I see, because every time one reads the last months of the war, it goes from the crater to Lee's surrender, and everything in between is forgotten. The crater was not the original; for the Vicksburg siege had two mines go off on June 25 and July 1st...

Civil War authors have to have income from books and such to live on. If the public does not buy, they have to take gig jobs or teach other's works. From the Crater to Hatchers Run was about 6 months of boring siege. Hatchers Run to Five Forks was about 3 weeks and Five Forks to Appomattox was just over a week. Literally everything changed at once and the story ends. It is hard to sell that. Thus a lot of detail is lost. Personally I like the research done on Hatchers Run and I have learned a lot, but I find Confederate politics, economics and diplomacy much more exciting.

 

[5fish]

I thought there was another road Lee could use at Petersburg...

With the Boydton Plank Road blocked, the most critical alternative for Lee's army was the White Oak Road, which ran roughly parallel and to the north. Controlling these roads was vital during the Petersburg Campaign and in the final retreat toward Appomattox.

Moving Into Position wayside marker

Moving Into Position wayside marker on the Whit Oak Road battlefield outside Petersburg, Virginia

stonesentinels.com

White Oak Road battlefield near Petersburg,Virginia

White Oak Road battlefield near Petersburg, Virginia, with photos, guide to battlefield trail with former markers, and map location

stonesentinels.com

 

[KepiBrit]

Civil War authors have to have income from books and such to live on. If the public does not buy, they have to take gig jobs or teach other's works. From the Crater to Hatchers Run was about 6 months of boring siege. Hatchers Run to Five Forks was about 3 weeks and Five Forks to Appomattox was just over a week. Literally everything changed at once and the story ends. It is hard to sell that. Thus a lot of detail is lost. Personally I like the research done on Hatchers Run and I have learned a lot, but I find Confederate politics, economics and diplomacy much more exciting.

You raise some interesting issues here. Just a point of information, Hatchers Run Feb 5-7 to Five Forks campaign starting ~29th March is about 7 weeks. As to what history gets remembered and what gets forgotten is important. I doubt that Wilson Greene, John Horn, Ed Bearss, Earl Hess, Andre Trudeau etc. would see things as 6 months of boring siege. These have produced award winning Petersburg books. Indeed, many even balk at calling the Campaign a siege at all. It can become something of a slippery slope if history is only about events that sell. I'm fortunate in that I'm retired and dont need to make money, which is largely why I "published" my work on Hatcher's Run as an eBook. I would say that that offensive was anything but boring (14 Medals of Honor over 3 days of tough fighting between nearly 60,000 soldiers) , but I acknowledge interest is in the "eye of the beholder" and there are those who are mainly interested in say Gettysburg, Antietam, the war in the west and the topics you highlight, as interesting. That all seems perfectly normal. What events get overlooked by history and why, interests me and that was really the main thing that attracted me to the Hatcher's Run story. How posterity has treated the Hatcher's Run battle is a fascinating tale and one I cover in my eBook.

 

[KepiBrit]

You need to promote Brig: Gen. Joseph Finegan, a Florida man. He led the attack late that caused the skedaddle, February 6th. My fellow Floridians need their due...

A summary he had moments near the end of the war...

DOMHNAIGH -- On Nov. 17, 1814, Joseph Finegan, a Confederate general in the American Civil War, was born in Clones, County Monaghan. Finegan immigrated to Florida in his early 20s. He built a lumber mill in Jacksonville and then later moved to Fernandia, where he was involved in building railroads and also practiced law. After serving as a delegate to Florida's secession convention, Governor John Milton appointed him to command the state's military. Finegan was praised for organizing two Florida brigades sent to the armies in Virginia and Tennessee. Meanwhile, Finegan's few remaining troops were spread thin trying to protect Florida's enormous shoreline. In early 1864, Union forces under Gen. Truman Seymour landed in Jacksonville and began to move inland. Finegan assembled three brigades and met the Federals at Olustee on February 20, driving them from the field and back to the Atlantic. It was the largest battle fought in Florida during the war. A "Thanks of the Confederate Congress" was later voted for Finegan and his men. Shortly after Olustee, Finegan was transferred to the Army of Northern Virginia, where he led a brigade of Floridians in William Mahone's division of the III Corps. Finegan's independent decision to attack the flank of Barlow's division at Cold Harbor on June 3, 1864, helped repulse the Union assault there, and his brigade also fought well during the Petersburg campaign. Finegan performed very well at Hatcher's Run on Feb. 6, 1865, when he commanded four brigades that held off four Union divisions. After the war, Finegan practiced law and was a state senator in Florida, and then lived in Savannah, Georgia, for a time working as a cotton broker. His final years were spent in Rutledge, Fla., where he died October 29, 1885. Finegan, who was said at the end to still be an "unreconstructed rebel," was buried in Old City Cemetery in Jacksonville.

Hatcher's Run was arguably Finegan's finest hour! Shame he didn't write a memoir about it. He actually commanded FIVE not four brigades at the battle. All this while waiting for Mahone to return to duty so he could return to Florida. His men also fought on Feb 5 too, which most dont acknowledge. They also fought on Feb 7, where Sorrel was badly wounded.

 

[jgoodguy]

You raise some interesting issues here. Just a point of information, Hatchers Run Feb 5-7 to Five Forks campaign starting ~29th March is about 7 weeks. As to what history gets remembered and what gets forgotten is important. I doubt that Wilson Greene, John Horn, Ed Bearss, Earl Hess, Andre Trudeau etc. would see things as 6 months of boring siege. These have produced award winning Petersburg books. Indeed, many even balk at calling the Campaign a siege at all. It can become something of a slippery slope if history is only about events that sell. I'm fortunate in that I'm retired and dont need to make money, which is largely why I "published" my work on Hatcher's Run as an eBook. I would say that that offensive was anything but boring (14 Medals of Honor over 3 days of tough fighting between nearly 60,000 soldiers) , but I acknowledge interest is in the "eye of the beholder" and there are those who are mainly interested in say Gettysburg, Antietam, the war in the west and the topics you highlight, as interesting. That all seems perfectly normal. What events get overlooked by history and why, interests me and that was really the main thing that attracted me to the Hatcher's Run story. How posterity has treated the Hatcher's Run battle is a fascinating tale and one I cover in my eBook.

Thanks for the correction. Histography and history have an uneasy relationship. Specialists in a number of topics often get annoyed that the great unwashed public are not interested. I have been there. Keep your passion on this topic and enjoy it. Its your self satisfaction that is most important. I have been down a lot of rabbit holes and found essential information written by passionate people, who have little recognition.

 

[5fish]

IF you arrow down past Virginia, you will find the structure for both the Union and Confederate Armies on Jan 31, 1865....

1865 January 31st

January 31 1865 Tuesday Thirteenth Amendment of the Constitution passed in the US House of Representatives Siege of Petersburg Go to February 1 1865 USA. The US House of Representatives voted by 11…

americancivilwarhighcommand.com

 

[KepiBrit]

IF you arrow down past Virginia, you will find the structure for both the Union and Confederate Armies on Jan 31, 1865....

1865 January 31st

January 31 1865 Tuesday Thirteenth Amendment of the Constitution passed in the US House of Representatives Siege of Petersburg Go to February 1 1865 USA. The US House of Representatives voted by 11…

americancivilwarhighcommand.com

Thanks for the post. Unfortunately, some of the information is incorrect for Jan 31st 1865 eg Mahone was absent sick even on Jan 31st. As for Feb 5 at the start of the Hatchers Run battle, the data is even more inaccurate. MacRae and Johnston were absent. I don’t even think that Mahone’s division had an end of Jan 1865 inspection as they were on a mission. I have all the NARA inspection reports for end Jan 1865, but the Mahone data is missing.