The fighting 209The fight for Globe Tavern and the railroad
cost some 4,300 Union casualties, and
2,300 Confederate.
With a new anchor on the Weldon
Railroad, Grant's lines stretched farther
westward, requiring Lee to match the
expansion, despite the direly thinning
Southern resources. Grant immediately sent
his once-powerful II Corps right down the
Weldon line to destroy it as far south as
possible. He could not permanently occupy
that zone south of Globe Tavern, but he
welcomed the chance to destroy more
Southern transportation. The II Corps had
been eviscerated in May, though, and
repeated its poor showing of June in the
Battle of Reams' Station on 24-25 August.
Confederate General A. P. Hill led out a
mixed reaction force of eight infantry
brigades drawn from various portions of the
line, forming what in later wars would be
called a 'battle group,' brought together for a
specific mission. The infantry joined with
General Wade Hampton's Southern cavalry
to surround and batter the Federals, who put
up only a feeble resistance. General Hancock,
the superb commander of the Union corps,
rode among his men, waving his hat and his
sword, shouting 'For God's sake do not run!'
His bravery accomplished little. Hill inflicted
about 2,700 casualties, many of them
captured, and lost only 700 men himself.
The new Union bulwark at Globe Tavern,
however, remained intact.
During 14-17 September, Hampton's
mounted troops executed one of the most
successful raids of the war - 'the Beefsteak
Raid.' About 4,000 Confederate horsemen
dashed far behind the Union army and
rustled a huge herd of beef cattle from under
their enemies' noses. Hungry Southern
troopers found most of the cattle guard
'cozily sleeping in their tents.' Hampton lost
only a few dozen men and returned with
300 human prisoners and 2,500 cattle. The
hunger rampant in the South by this time
made the beef a tantalizing prize of war.
Elsewhere, September was a bad month
for Confederate arms in Georgia, where
Atlanta fell to General William T. Sherman,
On 29 September; a determined Federal assault
captured Fort Harrison on Lee's main defensive line
outside Richmond. (Public domain)and in Virginia's Shenandoah valley. Late in
the month Federal initiatives also brought
on some of the heaviest fighting of the year
along the Richmond-Petersburg lines.
Between 29 September and 7 October 1864,
intense action erupted below Richmond and
north of the James, and also around
Petersburg west of the new Union
establishment at Globe Tavern. Grant had
attacked unsuccessfully north of the James
twice before near Deep Bottom, in
coordination with his offensives around
Petersburg. This new effort fell with
impressive might on the Confederate