Burnside’s Ninth Corps tried crossing
at Ox Ford, only to be stopped by the
strong Rebel defenses.
By evening it was apparent that the
Army of Northern Virginia had been
lurking in the midst of Union forces
and was shielded behind a formidable
set of fortifications shaped like an
inverted “V.” The apex was on Ox Ford
and the rear was protected by steep-
banked streams.
In a masterstroke, Lee had divided
the Union army, but was himself too ill
to organize an attack. Grant could not
unite the two wings of his army, which
were already on the south bank. He
therefore retreated from this most
ingenious of defensive arrangements,
withdrawing across the river. A day
passed. Then, on the evening of May
26, Grant feinted to the west, and again
pivoted his army to the southeast.Maneuvering toward Richmond
In May 1864, on the muddy roads to Richmond, a massive Union cavalry raid was repulsed at the gates of the city, while
General Robert E. Lee, matching General Ulysses S. Grant’s offensive maneuvers, nearly managed to trap a divided Union army
on the south bank of the North Anna River.
GRANT, SHERMAN, AND TOTAL WAR 1864O
n May 8, 1864, as the opening
battles at Spotsylvania were
beginning, the 10,000 troopers
of General Philip Sheridan’s cavalry
corps swung into their saddles and set
off on a massive raid on Richmond, 50
miles (80km) to the south. Three days
later they were nearly at the city’s outer
defenses when they learned that
Confederate cavalry blocked their way.
General Jeb Stuart, with a third of
Sheridan’s numbers, had hastily
deployed across a ridge just north of a
tumbledown inn called Yellow Tavern.
Stuart’s men and mounts wereBEFORE
While the armies of Grant and Lee lurched
from the ferocious Battle of the Wilderness
to the grim struggle at Spotsylvania,
concurrent offensives started elsewhere.SHERIDAN’S PLANS
On April 5, General Philip Sheridan, one of
Grant’s protégés from the Western Theater,
arrived in Virginia to take command of the Army
of the Potomac’s newly established cavalry
corps, whereupon he devised a plan to defeat
Confederate cavalry chief Jeb Stuart.SHERMAN MOVES OUT
On May 7, General William T. Sherman,
leading the Union’s second major strategic
offensive, commenced operations against
General Joseph E. Johnston in northwestern
Georgia. Within a week, Sherman’s forces would
outmaneuver Johnston’s army at Rocky Face
Ridge and force a retreat to Resaca.AFTER
While Grant and Sherman attacked Rebel
breastworks in Virginia and Georgia, Lee
chose a new leader to be the “eyes and
ears” of his army.NEW COMMANDER
To replace Jeb Stuart,
Lee chose General
Wade Hampton,
who would soon
fight Sheridan to a
draw at the June
11–12 Battle of
Trevilian Station.IN GEORGIA
Johnston was
repulsing Sherman’s assaults in the battles of
New Hope Church and Pickett’s Mill 292–93
❯❯, while Grant faced Lee at the North Anna.LEE’S DEFENSES
Grant concluded that without ground
protection, Lee’s army would totter and fall if
given a strong push, which he now tried doing
near a crossroads called Cold Harbor 260-61 ❯❯.WADE HAMPTONexhausted, but they put up a
spirited resistance for three hours.
Then, just as a late afternoon
thunderstorm broke, Sheridan’s
troopers charged up the
ridge. Galloping along his
lines, Stuart shouted
encouragement. He had
just reached the First
Virginia Cavalry, when
he was shot and
seriously wounded. “Go
back! Go back!” he yelled to
his men, who were about to
break under the force of the
assault, “I had rather die
than be whipped!” Still they
could not hold their line,
and were driven off the ridge a few
minutes later.
The road to Richmond was open, but
Sheridan shied away from the city’s
defenses and headed east. Rebel cavalry
harried his flanks and rear, but
eventually he made his way to the
Army of the James at Bermuda
Hundred. He had fulfilled his vow to
“whip Jeb Stuart out of his boots.” The
seriously wounded Stuart was taken to
Richmond, where he died of his wound
on the evening of May 12, as fighting
raged at Spotsylvania’s “Bloody Angle.”Meeting at the North Anna River
Ten days later, Grant left Spotsylvania
and sent his advance units once more
on the roads toward Richmond.Pontoons on the North Anna River
On May 24, 1864, Union engineers constructed pontoon
bridges across a fordable section in the North Anna
River, where the banks were less steep, as depicted in
this pencil drawing by Alfred Waud.The cat-and-mouse
game began again,
with Lee matching
Grant’s progress mile
for mile, as rain
lashed the slogging
troops. Before
darkness descended on
May 22, Lee had
concentrated his army
behind the south bank of the North
Anna River, 21 miles (34km) from
the Confederate capital. Grant arrived
on the opposite bank the next day.
General Gouverneur K. Warren’s
Fifth Corps splashed across a shallow
ford at Jericho Mill and was attacked
that evening by a division from
General A. P. Hill’s corps. Warren
drove Hill’s troops off after a sharp
and bloody fight.Union failure
The following morning, General
Winfield S. Hancock’s Second Corps
crossed the North Anna 5 miles
(8km) downstream, meeting little
resistance. Hopeful rumors began to
circulate that Lee had retreated again.
In mid-afternoon, however, one
Union division encountered
Confederates near Hanover Junction,
dug in behind entrenchments. An
hour later, General AmbroseCampaign chair
Complete with a velvet
seat, this sturdy piece of
portable furniture—a
typical 19th-century camp
chair—was used by Grant
during the Civil War.The approximate number
of Union and Confederate
casualties at the North Anna River—where
there was no major battle.4,500