On February 5th, 1865, the Battle of Hatcher’s Run began. Fought at several locations in Dinwiddie County, Virginia, U.S. General Ulysses S. Grant attempted to sever one of the Confederate supply lines along the Boydton Plank Road and turn the Confederate right flank. Grant ordered a joint movement comprising the 2nd Corps, 5th Corps, and Major General David McMurtrie Gregg’s Cavalry Division. On February 5th, Gregg’s Federal cavalrymen were instructed to spearhead the movement, leaving their camps around Fort Blaisdell at 3 am. Major General Gouverneur K. Warren ordered his 5th Corps to begin their movement at 7 am, and Major General Andrew A. Humphreys’ 2nd Corps also began moving shortly thereafter.
Gregg’s Federal Cavalry were largely unopposed until they ran into Confederate pickets from the 13th Virginia Cavalry defending Malone’s Bridge spanning Rowanty Creek. The 2nd and 13th Pennsylvania Cavalry regiments pushed forward and broke the Confederate line, scattering it and capturing 10 men. Gregg’s men pushed on until they arrived at Dinwiddie Court House at 1 pm, and discovered the Confederates had, for the most part, abandoned the supply route. After sending dispatches to let the other Federals commands know their findings, Gregg ordered his men back to Malone’s Bridge.
Warren’s 5th Corps moved forward, crossing Rowanty Creek near the location of Monk’s Neck Bridge. Warren discovered the Confederates had destroyed the bridge, and that a crossing would have to be forced. The 190th Pennsylvania Infantry and the 4th Delaware Infantry of Brigadier General James Gwyn’s Brigade were ordered forward to drive the Confederates from their defensive positions on the opposite bank. However, the creek was deep and partially frozen over. At 11 am, the Pennsylvanians and Delawareans used whatever means possible to get across the creek — felling trees and walking across, shuffling across the places where the ice was the thickest, and swimming the distance — and attacked the Confederates, pushing them out of their defenses. Lieutenant David E. Buckingham and Captain Samuel R. Smith of the 4th Delaware were awarded the Medal of Honor for swimming across the frozen Rowanty Creek. A bridge was constructed quickly following the brief engagement, and the rest of the 5th Corps passed over Rowanty Creek by late afternoon. At 5 pm, Warren’s boys reached the Vaughan Road, and went into bivouac near the Hargrave House, three miles from Dinwiddie Court House.
Humphreys’ 2nd Corps left their camps around Fort Seibert at 7 am and reached the McDowell House on the Vaughan Road in less than an hour. The 2nd Corps boys then captured the Hatcher’s Run crossing of Vaughan Road and the Hatcher’s Run ford at Armstrong’s Mill by 10:30 am, pushing back the Confederate pickets from Brigadier General John Pegram’s Division. In the afternoon, Humphreys made contact with Warren’s 5th Corps further down the Vaughan Road.
Grant’s offensive certainly caught General Robert E. Lee off guard. The Federal movements were reported to Lee while he was attending Sunday morning church service in Petersburg. He quickly rode back to his defensive lines and met with his 2nd and 3rd Corps commanders, Major General John B. Gordon and Lieutenant General A. P. Hill, respectively. The Federals were entrenching less than 1000 yards from the main Confederate entrenchments defending the Boydton Plank Road, and Lee ordered an advance to meet them in battle.
Separated by the Rocky Branch stream, Major General Henry Heth’s Division of Hill’s 3rd Corps and Brigadier General Clement A. Evans’ Division of Gordon’s 2nd Corps advanced against the entrenching Federal soldiers of Humphreys’ 2nd Corps at 4 pm. Heth’s boys drove back the Federal skirmishers to their main line east of Rocky Branch handsomely, but Evans’ boys west of Rocky Branch failed to push back the entrenched skirmishers of the 182nd New York Infantry. Brigadier General Thomas A. Smyth, a Federal 2nd Corps division commander, ordered the 8th Massachusetts Artillery to quickly disperse Brigadier General John Cooke’s North Carolinians of Heth’s Division who were charging towards the gap in the Federal battle line where the exposed 8th New Jersey Infantry stood. The combined artillery and musket fire sent the North Carolinians reeling. Heth reformed his division and attacked the Federal line again, but like the previous charge, it was repulsed.
Evans’ Division still could not make any headway in breaking the Federal entrenched picket line west of Rocky Branch. Wanting to capitalize on the partial success of the day, Lee ordered a third attack east of Rocky Branch. However, Heth’s three brigades were worn out from the previous two attacks, and refused to go forward. Who participated in this assault is unclear. Some brigades from General William Mahone’s Division of Hill’s 3rd Corps had by that time arrived on the field of battle. Brigadier General Joseph Finegan commanded the division, and it is believed some of these brigades along with the brigades of Brigadier General Philip Cook and Brigadier General Joseph Davis of Heth’s Division attacked the Federal lines. The assault met with the same result as the previous two — repulse.
Darkness had fallen on the battlefield by the conclusion of the third assault, and Lee ordered the battered Confederates to their main defenses along the Boydton Plank Road. Even though Humphreys’ Federal 2nd Corps was victorious, they feared the Confederates would regroup and strike their lines again. After Grant’s approval, U.S. Army of the Potomac commander, General George G. Meade ordered Warren and Gregg to join Humphreys at the Hatcher’s Run crossing of the Vaughan Road. Federal reinforcements from the 6th and 9th Corps were also brought forward to stabilize the line.
Throughout the evening of February 5th into the morning of the 6th. Meade had ordered elements of his army to reinforce Humphreys’ 2nd Corps’ position. However, Warren’s 5th Corps had not moved as ordered due to communication issues, and instead stayed where they were along the Vaughan Road. But it was rather the Confederate movements on February 6th that proved an even greater mystery.
The morning of February 6th found Brigadier General John Pegram’s Division guarding the right of the Confederate line around the Crow House, protecting the Boydton Plank Road and Burgess’ Mill. At 11 am, Pegram accompanied two of his brigades south down the Quaker Road to aid he Confederate cavalry in driving off Major General David McMurtrie Gregg’s Federal Cavalry Division. This movement left Pegram’s last brigade, 800 Tar Heels under the command of Colonel John W. Lea, to protect the vital flank of the Confederate army and the Boydton Plank Road. No one knows who ordered Pegram to do this, especially when Gordon, the Confederate 2nd Corps commander, had instructed Pegram to prepare for an expected Federal assault on February 6th.
By 1 pm, Warren was able to fix his communication problems, and hastened his 5th Corps to Humphreys’ position as previously ordered by Meade. Gregg was also ordered to make a cavalry charge down the Vaughan Road to clear it of dismounted Confederate cavalrymen. Instead of just dismounted cavalry, the Federal horsemen ran into Pegram’s two infantry brigades, and Gregg’s men were driven off. Warren was forced to deploy some of his 5th Corps’ infantry to protect his endangered flank, sending in Brigadier General Frederick Winthrop’s brigade of New Yorkers. Pegram’s two brigades, Brigadier General William G. Lewis’ North Carolinians and Colonel John S. Hoffman’s Virginians, pushed back the New Yorkers until a second Federal brigade under Brigadier General Horatio G. Sickels arrived on the field of battle at 3 pm and routed the Confederate brigades. Pegram was able to rally his men, and after regrouping them, he marched them north towards Dabney’s Mill to link up with the rest of his division.
At 1:30 pm, Lea’s Tar Heels at Dabney’s Mill were alone facing down five Union brigades from the 5th Corps heading their way. After some back and forth fighting, the North Carolinians could not blunt the Federal force any longer, and were forced back to the Crow House. Gordon saw the line crumbling and ordered reinforcements to help out Lea’s small brigade. Brigadier General Clement Evans’ Division arrived in the nick of time to stop the Federal brigades and drive them back. It was now Warren’s turn to order up reinforcements. The 5th Corps boys rallied and reformed, and attacked the Confederate battle line again. Just like the time before, the Federals were able to drive the Confederates back beyond Dabney’s Mill, but Lea and Evans counterattacked and succeeded in pushing back the Federals once more.
At 4:30 pm, Warren set in motion an attack that would hopefully outflank the Confederate line around Dabney’s Mill. Sending forth two brigades, commanded by Brigadier General Alfred L. Pearson and Colonel Richard N. Bowerman, Warren ordered them to attack the Confederate right flank held by Lea’s Tar Heels. When the Federal brigades went forward, it was at that same exact time that Pegram showed up with his remaining two brigades from his earlier fight with Gregg, Winthrop, and Sickels. The first Federal volley completely dismantled the Confederate command chain, as Pegram was killed and Hoffman was seriously wounded. However, the Confederates rallied, and with two additional brigades to help, the Federals were again driven back past Dabney’s Mill.
At 5 pm, additional Confederate reinforcements arrived on the field. Wanting to make an assault on the Federal lines before more of their reinforcements arrived, Gordon ordered the five brigades of General William Mahone’s Division, commanded by Brigadier General Joseph Finegan, forward. What resulted was complete chaos along the Federal lines. Finegan’s boys shattered Warren’s brigades, causing widespread panic in the Federal ranks — sometimes resulting in friendly fire incidents.
Darkness fell on the battlefield once more, ending the fighting. The Federals attempted to reform their lines, bringing order to the chaos. The Confederates fell back to their positions around Dabney’s Mill, continuing to strengthen their earthworks. During the night, a winter storm descended upon both armies with ice, snow, and freezing winds. Tragically, many wounded soldiers on both sides froze to death on the battlefield the evening of February 6th, 1865.
When February 7th, 1865 dawned, the men of both armies were not eager to continue the fight after the carnage of the previous two days. The Confederates still held their defensive positions around Dabney’s Mill, and were preparing for another Federal attack. On the other side of the field, Federal commanders discussed what should be done. Grant and Meade were worried the morale in Warren’s 5th Corps had been shattered following the utter rout the previous evening. Warren sought to restore the fighting reputation of his men, and suggested an attack be made on the Confederate entrenched picket line in front of Dabney’s Mill. Grant and Meade approved the movement.
In the late morning, Warren ordered Major General Samuel Crawford’s Division forward, and they began pushing the enemy back despite a winter storm howling around all the men engaged. The Confederates fought stubbornly though, and in the swirling engagement, Confederate Brigadier General Moxley Sorrel was badly wounded in the lung. When Crawford finally pushed the Confederate pickets all the way back to their main earthworks around Dabney’s Mill, it was already late afternoon. Warren reported this progress to Meade.
Meade ultimately decided and ordered Warren to not make an attempt at seizing the main Confederate line that was well defended. However, Warren did not disengage his 5th Corps as ordered — he may not have received Meade’s orders, or he personally disagreed with Meade and wanted to push the attack. Regardless, Crawford’s Division was once again instructed to move forward by Warren.
At 6 pm, Crawford gave the order to charge. The Confederate position around Dabney’s Mill was reinforced by artillery by this time, and the 5th Corps boys were cut down. Warren was not satisfied by this failure, and ordered another charge. This too was met with the same result — bloody repulse. The Federal soldiers rallied their shattered ranks in the cover of the woods before withdrawing from the battlefield, back to their lines along Hatcher’s Run. This final chapter of the engagement ended the Battle of Hatcher’s Run.
The Battle of Hatcher’s Run was the last concentrated and severe fighting around Petersburg between Grant and Lee before the Confederate attempt to break the siege with the assault at Fort Stedman on March 25th, 1865. The Confederates claimed victory by successfully defending their positions around Dabney’s Mill, and in turn protecting the vital supply line of the Boydton Plank Road. They were able to damage Humphreys’ 2nd Corps and rout Warren’s 5th Corps. The Confederate Army of Northern Virginia may have lost irreplaceable officers and men, but during the Battle of Hatcher’s Run, they proved to the Federals they were still a dangerous foe. However, regardless of these successes, the Confederates lost two strategic positions along Hatcher’s Run.
Despite some reverses, the Federals also attained significant achievements during the Battle of Hatcher’s Run. They held two strategic crossings at Hatcher’s Run, utilizing these to extend their lines of earthworks a number of miles west. It would be these defensive lines that would enable the U.S. armies to launch the Spring Campaign of 1865 — ultimately ending with the defeat and surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House.
