While a main part of General-in-Chief Ulysses S. Grant’s Federal offensive involved putting an army in motion in northern Virginia, another part consisted of moving a second Federal army from the Virginia Peninsula between the York and James rivers. The Army of the James consisted of about 33,000 men in two corps and was led by Major-General Benjamin F. Butler. Grant had directed Butler to advance up the James and cut the Richmond & Petersburg Railroad, which would prevent men and supplies from reaching General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia from south of Richmond.
Federal transports were to drop Butler’s army off at Bermuda Hundred, a peninsula formed by the James and Appomattox rivers, 18 miles southeast of the Confederate capital of Richmond. From there, the Federals were to advance 10 miles west to the railroad, which was between the key supply center at Petersburg and Richmond. On the night of May 4, the transports steamed around the tip of the Virginia Peninsula and entered the James.
Richmond authorities quickly learned that a fleet of about 200 enemy ships was moving up the James, which included five ironclad gunboats escorting the transports conveying the army. The ironclads cleared the torpedoes and other obstructions in the river so the transports could get through safely. This advance coincided with that of the Army of the Potomac in northern Virginia, thus placing Richmond under serious threat from both the north and south.
One of Butler’s divisions disembarked at City Point, about nine miles northeast of Petersburg, while the rest of the fleet continued upriver. After passing the mouth of the Appomattox River, Butler’s other five divisions unloaded at the Bermuda Hundred plantation landing. Federal cavalry rode out to threaten the Weldon Railroad outside Petersburg.
Panicked Confederate officials called on General P.G.T. Beauregard, commanding the Department of Southern Virginia and North Carolina, to send troops to stop the Federals before they advanced any further. Beauregard, 65 miles south of Petersburg at Weldon, North Carolina, answered that he was “indisposed” (i.e., too sick to leave) and deferred to his second-in-command, Major-General George Pickett.
Pickett hurried troops to guard the railroads at Petersburg. Fewer than 5,000 men (3,000 at Richmond and 2,000 at Petersburg), many of whom were hastily armed government clerks, faced an opposing force more than six times their size. This was the easiest opportunity the Federals ever had to seize Richmond, Petersburg, or both.
Meanwhile, Butler’s Federals were all where they were supposed to be at Bermuda Hundred by the end of the 5th. Butler reported his progress to Grant, informing him, “We are landing the troops during the night–a hazardous service in the face of the enemy.”
Grant’s orders were for Butler to now turn north and threaten Richmond from the south. Not wanting to wait, Butler met with his two corps commanders (Major-Generals William F. “Baldy” Smith and Quincy A. Gillmore) and asked their opinion on whether he should conduct a night march on the capital. Both commanders opposed moving blindly through enemy territory at night, so Butler agreed to wait.
On the morning of the 6th, the Federals were within 15 miles of Richmond to the northwest and seven miles of Petersburg to the southwest. But instead of advancing to cut the Richmond & Petersburg Railroad as ordered, Butler ordered his men to stop and build entrenchments across the peninsula neck at Bermuda Hundred. He then ordered Smith and Gillmore to each send a brigade to probe ahead, but only Smith complied, and his brigade was knocked back by just 600 hastily organized Confederate defenders. Butler did nothing to enforce his orders except complain to a senator that Gillmore should be denied his recent appointment to major-general.
The Confederates had been reinforced to about 2,700 men by the 7th. Led by Major-General Bushrod R. Johnson, these troops guarded the railroad near Port Walthall Junction. Butler deployed a force of about 8,000 Federals, and after a two-hour fight, the Federals pushed Johnson’s flank back while destroying a quarter-mile section of the track and telegraph line.
The Federals sustained just 289 casualties, but Butler recalled the troops at nightfall as he planned to advance with an even bigger force the next day. The Federals began deriding Butler’s “stationary advance” and jokingly asked how long it would take to capture Richmond if they advanced every day and went back where they started every night. Meanwhile, Pickett directed Johnson to withdraw south behind Swift Run Creek; this better protected Petersburg, but it left a larger portion of the railroad vulnerable to destruction.
As Butler spent the 8th slowly preparing his advance, Beauregard reported that he would be well enough to take the field again soon (“The water has improved my health.”). In the meantime, Confederate reinforcements continued arriving at Petersburg and Richmond to strengthen the defenses.
The next day, Butler finally came to the front and personally directed the advance of 14,000 men in two divisions. Troops from Gillmore’s Tenth Corps advanced on the right (north) flank and destroyed railroad track around Chester Station. But troops from Smith’s Eighteenth Corps on the left (south) ran into the Confederate defenses at Port Walthall Junction. Johnson deployed a Confederate brigade to conduct a reconnaissance in force, but it was quickly driven back at Arrowhead Church. The Federals then approached Johnson’s main line, but their half-hearted assault was repulsed.
Major-General Robert Ransom, Jr. ordered his Confederates to reconnoiter the Federal positions on the 10th, and they inadvertently came across a Federal regiment behind the lines destroying the railroad at Chester Station. Ransom’s men pushed the regiment back, but Federal reinforcements arrived to stem the tide. Both sides fell back to end the minor engagement.
By the time Butler learned of this action, he received word from Washington that the Army of the Potomac had scored major victories in northern Virginia. He therefore pulled back from Swift Run Creek and returned to his west-facing Bermuda Hundred entrenchments. From there, he decided to forego Grant’s order to destroy the railroad in favor of a direct attack on Richmond, which he believed to be vulnerable. Butler also noted that Grant planned for the Armies of the Potomac and the James to link outside Richmond, and he wanted to be ready.
“Baldy” Smith and Gillmore both informed Butler that Petersburg could be captured if they bridged the Appomattox and assaulted the city from the east. Butler rejected their suggestion, opting instead to turn north toward Richmond. Butler optimistically notified Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, “We can hold out against the whole of Lee’s army. General Grant will not be troubled with any further reinforcements to Lee from Beauregard’s force.”
Bibliography
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