The Battle of Hatcher’s run was fought from February 5 – 7, 1865 about six miles southwest of Petersburg, Virginia along Vaughn Road and around Hatcher’s Run. The battlefield has changed relatively little in the 150 years since the Civil War. A few houses line the narrow country roads but the area so far has avoided much development. It is still mostly covered in woods and fields that wouldn’t look too out of place to the men who fought over them in 1865.
Unfortunately, only a small part of the battlefield is preserved. The Civil War Trust has saved around 380 acres of land north of Hatcher’s Run and west of Duncan Road, with another small parcel on the south side of Dabney Mill Road.
The Dabney Mill parcel (37.124846° N, 77.496985° W; map) has a small parking area, two wayside markers and a monument to Confederate Brigadier General John Pegram, who was killed nearby. A Virginia state historical marker and the Civil War Trust’s battlefield sign on the south side of the road show the location of the drive back to the parking area. These are the only signs that almost 50,000 men fought here for three days 150 years ago.
See the monument and markers:
Battle Summary
By early February of 1865 the Siege of Petersburg had dragged on for eight months.The earthworks of the two armies stretched for miles across the Virginia countryside, ending about six miles southwest of Petersburg. Not much farther west Boydton Plank Road – today’s US Highway 1 – came into Petersburg from the southwest, and a short distance to the north the Southside Railroad carried the last rail link to the hungry Confederates.
Time and again Grant had sent his men west, outflanking the Confederate lines to try to cut off the supplies, but these last two still eluded him. So in spite of snow and sleet that draped the trees with ice (but firmed up the muddy roads) Grant decided to try again. Brigadier General David Gregg’s Federal cavalry division would sweep the road of the traffic that Grant thought was there. To protect the cavalry Major General Andrew Humphreys’ Second Corps and Major General Gouverneur Warren’s Fifth Corps would take up protective positions between the cavalry and the watchful Confederates. Altogether around 34,000 Union troops were involved.
The Southerners did not know the Union infantry was just acting as a shield. The Union movements looked like a repeat of the big offensive in the fall that had almost broken through to the railroad. Taking no chances, Lee spread the Confederate manpower in the sparsely manned trenches even thinner. This freed up John Gordon’s Second Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia, around 14,000 men, who were sent to counterattack and prevent the Federals from interdicting Boydton Plank Road or the Southside Railroad.
The two sides fought back and forth for three days, ending in a tactical draw. The Union advance was stopped, but would not be forced back. The Federals dug in, having moved three miles closer to the vital railroad that kept Petersburg and Richmond alive. Grant was unable to permanently cut the Boydton Plank Road but found that the Confederates were already barely using it due to the threat of being raided. There had been almost no traffic on the road to sweep up.
The fighting extended the Union siege lines another three miles and forced the Confederates to do the same, even though they were already dangerously near the breaking point.
The North had lost 171 killed, 1,181 wounded and 187 captured, a total of 1,539. The South lost around 1,160 men including two generals. Division commander Major General John Pegram was killed and brigade commander Brigadier General Moxley Sorrel was shot through the lung and disabled for the rest of the war. The end result was there were 1,160 fewer Confederates to man the ever-lengthening defensive lines, a desperate equation whose answer was quickly coming due.