The defense line of General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virgina was situated south of the North Anna River in the form of an inverted “V”:
- The apex pointed north, anchored at Ox Ford on the river.
- The left side of the V, held by Lieutenant-General A.P. Hill’s Third Corps, ran southwest.
- The right side of the V, held by Major-General Robert H. Anderson’s First Corps, ran southeast.
- The right flank of Lee’s army jutted to the east to guard the vital railroad intersection at Hanover Junction; this was held by Lieutenant-General Richard Ewell’s Second Corps.
Major-General George G. Meade’s Federal Army of the Potomac, with General-in-Chief Ulysses S. Grant in overall command, held a line running from northwest to southeast of Ox Ford:
- Major-General Gouverneur Warren’s Fifth Corps was on the southern bank of the river at Jericho Mills to the northwest.
- Major-General Horatio G. Wright’s Sixth Corps crossed behind Warren on the morning of May 24, and both corps marched to the Virginia Central Railroad around 11 a.m.
- To the southeast, Major-General Ambrose E. Burnside’s Ninth Corps faced Hill’s Confederates guarding Ox Ford.
- To Burnside’s left (east), Major-General Winfield Scott Hancock’s Second Corps threatened the river crossings at Chesterfield Bridge and the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad bridge farther downstream.
To Lee’s benefit, the Federals lacked sufficient cavalry to probe the Confederate lines for vulnerable spots. Major-General Philip Sheridan, commanding the Federal Cavalry Corps, finally returned to the Potomac army with his command after his raid on Richmond and ride around Lee’s army. So far, Sheridan’s only significant accomplishment was to kill Jeb Stuart. The Federal army had been maneuvering and fighting without the aid of horsemen for two weeks.
The Federals advanced to cross the North Anna and attack the Confederates, but Burnside submitted a pessimistic report at 6:30 a.m.: “The prospects of success are not at all flattering, but I think the attempt can be made without any very disastrous results, and we may possibly succeed.” Efforts by Burnside to get across the North Anna were fruitless for several hours.
Meanwhile, the bulk of Hancock’s corps pushed its way across the Chesterfield Bridge at 8 a.m. One of Hancock’s divisions under Brigadier-General John Gibbon approached the railroad bridge but discovered that Confederates had destroyed it. The Federals improvised by felling a tree and using it to span the river.
Grant saw that the Federals were crossing with ease, unaware that this was part of Lee’s trap to draw the Federals across the North Anna. He telegraphed Washington, “The enemy have fallen back from North Anna. We are in pursuit.” Assuming that Lee would retreat to at least the South Anna River, six miles farther south, Grant wrote, “I will probably know to-day if the enemy intends standing behind South Anna.”
The Confederates opposed Burnside’s attempts to cross at Ox Ford and, as Lee hoped, the Federals believed this was just a rear-guard action. Grant finally sent an imperative order to Burnside: “You must get over and camp to-night on the south side,” and Burnside directed one of his divisions to move upriver (northwest) and cross at Quarles Mill. Once across, they were to march back downriver (southeast) to Ox Ford and attack the Confederate line near the apex of the V.
The Federals crossed as ordered, with Brigadier-General James Ledlie’s brigade in the lead. Ledlie ordered an attack, despite signs of strong Confederate opposition ahead. Confederate infantry and artillery easily repelled the reckless assault. A storm broke as the Federals fell back to Quarles Mill. Burnside later inexplicably praised and promoted Ledlie for his brigade’s gallantry under fire, apparently unaware that Ledlie and his staff were obviously drunk during the action.
Meanwhile, Hancock’s corps moved south from the Chesterfield and railroad bridges. The Federals were stopped by the Confederate defenders under Anderson and Ewell. The fighting was suspended due to the thunderstorm, but when the rain slackened, the Federals still could not penetrate the strong enemy lines.
Lee now had the Federals right where he wanted them. They were divided into three segments (Warren/Wright, Burnside, and Hancock) with each one vulnerable to an overwhelming attack. But Lee could not coordinate such an assault due to exhaustion and debilitating diarrhea. Bedridden, Lee said, “We must strike them a blow–we must never let them pass again–we must strike them a blow.”
But Lee had no subordinate on which he could depend to lead the way. James Longstreet was gone with a serious wound, Jeb Stuart was dead, Ewell was suffering from exhaustion and injury, A.P. Hill was battling illness, and Anderson was unproven as a corps commander. The Confederates stayed on the defensive.
Hancock informed Meade at 6:30 p.m. that the Confederates were dug in too strongly to be dislodged: “The latest information I have leads me to believe that a large force, if not the whole of Lee’s army, is in my front.” On the other side of the Federal line, Warren reported, “I feel satisfied that I should have great difficulty at best in whipping the enemy in my front.”
Grant ordered a halt to all advances. He directed Burnside to use two of his divisions to connect with Hancock while keeping one at Ox Ford and one at Quarles Mill. Grant and Lee now held lines similar to each other’s, both of which were virtually impregnable. As Grant later wrote:
“Lee now had his entire army south of the North Anna. Our lines covered his front, with the six miles separating the two wings guarded by but a single division. To get from one wing to the other the river would have to be crossed twice. Lee could reinforce any part of his line from all points of it in a very short march; or could concentrate the whole of it wherever he might choose to assault. We were, for the time, practically two armies besieging.”
Maneuvering on both sides would continue the next day.
Bibliography
- Anderson, Nancy Scott; Anderson, Dwight, The Generals: Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee. New York: Vintage Books, 1987.
- Catton, Bruce, Grant Takes Command. Open Road Media, Kindle Edition, 2015.
- Davis, Jefferson, The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government: All Volumes. Heraklion Press, Kindle Edition 2013, 1889.
- Freeman, Douglas Southall, Lee. Scribner, (Kindle Edition), 2008.
- Jaynes, Gregory, The Killing Ground: Wilderness to Cold Harbor. Alexandria, Va.: Time-Life Books, 1983.
- Jensen, Les D. (Patricia L. Faust ed.), Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War. New York: Harper & Row, 1986.
- Long, E.B. with Long, Barbara, The Civil War Day by Day. New York: Da Capo Press, Inc., 1971.
- Sears, Stephen W., Lincoln’s Lieutenants: The High Command of the Army of the Potomac. Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books, (Kindle Edition), 2017.
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