During the siege of Petersburg, Virginia, troops from the Federal Armies of the Potomac and the James launched a diversionary attack north of the James River against the Confederate defenses outside Richmond. General-in-Chief Ulysses S. Grant had learned that General Robert E. Lee, commanding the Confederates defending Richmond and Petersburg, had sent part of his army west to the Shenandoah Valley. Grant sought to capitalize on Lee’s supposed shortfall.
Grant hoped that the attack might blow a hole in the Confederate line and open a path to Richmond. If not, then perhaps Lee would send enough men north to weaken his defenses in front of Petersburg to the point that they could be broken. Or perhaps the Federals might be able to get around Lee’s right (southern) flank below Petersburg and cut the Confederate lifeline on the Weldon Railroad.
The attack force was to be commanded by Major-General Winfield Scott Hancock, and it consisted of:
- Hancock’s Second Corps from the Army of the Potomac, now under Brigadier-General Francis C. Barlow
- Major-General James B. Birney’s Tenth Corps from the Army of the James
- Brigadier-General David M. Gregg’s Second Division of the Cavalry Corps/Army of the Potomac
The Federals crossed the James River and landed at Deep Bottom at 9 a.m. on August 14. This was the same location where the Federals tried to raid Richmond a month ago. Birney’s corps was to demonstrate against the Confederate right (south) flank near New Market Heights, while Barlow’s corps was to come up on Birney’s right, along Bailey’s Creek, looking to turn the enemy left. Gregg’s cavalry would be to Barlow’s right, ready to raid the Virginia Central Railroad or, if an opening presented itself, ride into Richmond.
The Federals were told that they would be facing a single Confederate division. But they advanced slowly in the summer heat, which gave Lee time to bolster that sector with two more divisions and artillery. The attackers approached the Confederate defenses around midday and immediately realized they were stronger than expected. The Federals were forced to fall back. Although the attack was unsuccessful, Lee had done exactly what Grant wanted him to do: pull troops from south of the James to reinforce the northern sector.
On the 15th, Barlow’s Federals struggled through the Tidewater woods, and Birney’s men took until 6 p.m. to adjust to the rough terrain, making it too late to attack. The next morning, the Federals attacked and pushed their way to within seven miles of Richmond. Birney’s troops penetrated the Confederate line at Fussell’s Mill, but neither Birney nor Barlow realized the line was broken due to the heavy foliage. Confederates under Major-General Charles W. Field soon surged forward to plug the gap and hold the Federals off.
Barlow had a reputation as a hard and courageous fighter, as did his Second Corps. But this campaign had worn them out, and the assaults lacked the ferocity needed to break the Confederate line. Barlow wrote, “The troops exhibited such signs of timidity and demoralization that I was convinced it was out of the question to employ them in this work.” Hancock noted, “The troops are not behaving steadily to-day.”
Both sides observed a ceasefire to collect their dead and wounded on the 17th. But when the Federals tried to entrench themselves on Signal Hill, Lee requested Confederate gunboats to come up. The C.S.S. Virginia II and C.S.S. Richmond responded and drove the Federals off. General Barlow was granted medical leave after being driven to exhaustion by combat and the recent death of his wife. He was replaced as by Brigadier-General Nelson Miles.
The Confederates launched an assault of their own on the 18th, but they were repelled. The opposing forces spent the next two days entrenching and skirmishing. Grant withdrew the Federals from above the James on the 20th, ending the fighting at Deep Bottom Run.
The Federals sustained 2,901 casualties, while the Confederates lost about 1,500. Grant did not achieve the breakthrough he hoped, but he prevented Lee from sending any more reinforcements to the Shenandoah Valley. The vaunted Second Corps was worn out, and Hancock reported that the men did not conduct themselves well in this operation. The crossing of the James was conducted in heavy rain, which Hancock said made this move “one of the most fatiguing and difficult performed by the troops during the campaign.” The troops would be shifted southwest to join in the second of Grant’s two-pronged assault, which involved a Federal thrust below Petersburg.
Bibliography
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