Brigadier-General H. Judson Kilpatrick commanded a division of the Cavalry Corps within Major-General George G. Meade’s Federal Army of the Potomac, currently encamped in northern Virginia. In early February, Kilpatrick proposed to lead a raid on the Confederate capital of Richmond. He had several objectives in mind:
- To wreck lines of communication and supply between Richmond and General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia
- To scatter the Confederate government and free Federal prisoners of war
- To distribute copies of President Abraham Lincoln’s Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction in hopes that it may persuade southerners to return to the Union
When word of this proposal reached Lincoln, he wrote Meade, “Unless there be strong reasons to the contrary, please send Gen. Kilpatrick to us here, for two or three days.” Meade complied even though neither he nor Major-General Alfred Pleasonton, head of the Cavalry Corps, thought very highly of Kilpatrick’s idea. Pleasonton noted that George Stoneman’s cavalry raid during the Chancellorsville campaign last May had accomplished nothing, and that distributing pamphlets behind enemy lines was a job for the secret service, not cavalry. Pleasonton also complained about Lincoln bypassing him to work directly with Kilpatrick.
Kilpatrick met privately with Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton on February 12 and described his plan in detail. Stanton approved and suggested that each cavalry trooper be armed with 100 copies of Lincoln’s proclamation. Kilpatrick next met with Lincoln, who learned that the plan had been devised by Colonel Ulric Dahlgren, the 22-year-old son of Rear-Admiral John A.B. Dahlgren. Lincoln and John Dahlgren were good friends, and Kilpatrick hoped that Ulric’s “well-known gallantry, intelligence, and energy” would enhance publicity. Lincoln, hopeful that this daring gamble might break the frustrating stalemate in Virginia, approved.
Kilpatrick and Dahlgren spent much of the second half of February planning and preparing for the raid. Kilpatrick hosted a party on the 22nd, which was attended by several key members of Congress with the power of confirming army officers. An observer noted that Kilpatrick was “as active as a flea, and almost as ubiquitous.”
That same night, officers of the Second Corps staged a grand ball near Brandy Station. Word had spread through the corps about Kilpatrick’s plan, and a woman with Confederate sympathies overheard talk of it. She promptly reported what she heard to General Lee, whose Confederate army was stationed around Orange Court House. Lee instructed his cavalry to be on high alert for any Federal attempt to threaten Richmond.
Meanwhile, Dahlgren wrote his father:
“I have not returned to the fleet, because there is a great raid to be made, and I am to have a very important command. If successful, it will be the grandest thing on record; and if it fails, many of us will ‘go up’… With such an important command I am afraid to mention it, for fear this letter might fall into wrong hands before reaching you… I think we will be successful, although a desperate undertaking… If we do not return, there is no better place to ‘give up the ghost.’”
Kilpatrick received orders on the 27th to “move with the utmost expedition possible on the shortest route past the enemy’s right (east) flank.” The raiding force consisted of about 3,500 troopers, and according to the plan:
- Major-General John Sedgwick’s Sixth Corps would divert Confederate attention by moving toward Madison Court House.
- Brigadier-General George A. Custer’s brigade would take a diversionary ride around the Confederate left (west) toward Charlottesville.
- Dahlgren would lead 500 troopers across the James River to attack Richmond from the southwest.
- Kilpatrick would lead the remaining Federals in an attack on Richmond from the north.
The troopers were issued five days’ rations and given new equipment for themselves and their horses. This excited the men because it indicated a secret mission, and “It is easier to get a trooper or even a hundred for a raid than to get one to groom an extra horse.” The diversionary forces and Kilpatrick’s command started moving on the night of the 28th. Dahlgren wrote an address that he intended to read to his troopers before attacking Richmond:
“You have been selected from brigades and regiments as a picked command to attempt a desperate undertaking–an undertaking which, if successful, will write your names on the hearts of your countrymen in letters that can never be erased, and which will cause the prayers of our fellow-soldiers now confined in loathsome prisons to follow you and yours wherever you may go.
“We hope to release the prisoners from Belle Island first, and having seen them fairly started, we will cross the James River into Richmond, destroying the bridges after us and exhorting the released prisoners to destroy and burn the hateful city; and do not allow the rebel leader Davis and his traitorous crew to escape…”
“Many of you may fall; but if there is any man here not willing to sacrifice his life in such a great and glorious undertaking, or who does not feel capable of meeting the enemy in such a desperate fight as will follow, let him step out, and he may go hence to the arms of his sweetheart and read of the braves who swept through the city of Richmond.”
Lee quickly learned of the Federal movement and believed that this might be the raid he had been warned about. He directed Major-General J.E.B. “Jeb” Stuart, commanding the Confederate cavalry, to confront the enemy forces. Kilpatrick’s troopers crossed the Rapidan River at Ely’s Ford at 10 p.m. the next evening, capturing the small Confederate force guarding the crossing. Kilpatrick’s signal officer, Captain Joseph Gloskoski, reported:
“The first night of our march was beautiful. Myriads of stars twinkled in heaven, looking at us as if in wonder why should we break the laws of God and wander at night instead of seeking repose and sleep. The moon threw its silvery light upon Rapidan waters when we forded it, and it seemed as if the Almighty Judge was looking silently upon our doings. We moved as fast as our horses could walk, making halts of 15 minutes twice every 24 hours. Thus we reached Spotsylvania Court-House. There Colonel Dahlgren with his command took the direct road toward Frederick’s Hall, while we moved to Beaver Dam Station.”
Kilpatrick’s force arrived at Spotsylvania Court House near dawn on the 29th. As planned, Dahlgren detached his 500 men and veered slightly southwest while the main force continued south toward Richmond along the Virginia Central Railroad. A staff officer rode through the ranks assuring the men that there would be no opposition in Richmond except for government workers. The Federals were unaware that Confederate troopers from Major-General Wade Hampton’s cavalry brigade had spotted them.
The weather turned cold, with rain turning into sleet and snow. Gloskoski recalled, “Now it stormed in earnest. Sharp wind and sleet forced men to close their eyes. The night was so dark that even the river in front could not be seen and trees on the roadside could not be distinguished. So complete darkness I never saw. Men depended entirely on the instinct of their horses, and the whole command on a negro to guide them.”
But Kilpatrick continued forward, crossing the North Anna River around noon and arriving at the South Anna by nightfall. The Federals cut telegraph wires and destroyed property as they went, and they were soon opposed by hostile citizens and guerrillas. The Federals launched signal rockets to notify Dahlgren where they were, but nobody knew whether Dahlgren saw them.
Meanwhile, Hampton’s Confederates hurried to pursue the Federals from the east but had not quite reached them by the end of the 29th. The drive toward Richmond continued into March, as troops within the city learned of the Federal approach and prepared defenses.
Bibliography
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