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| Hatcher's Run fortifications. (Library of Congress) |
Battle of Hatcher’s Run
When the men of the 10th
Louisiana Infantry got to Hatcher’s Run, one mile in rear of
Burgess’ Mill, they began building winter quarters. The regiment, what was left
of it, took part in the agonizing drama that unfolded that winter. They shed
more blood in the Battle of Hatcher’s Run, Feb. 5-7, 1865, the Battle
of Fort Stedman, March 25, 1865 and the
Battle of Appomattox, April 9, 1865. The Battle of Hatcher’s Run took place when a division of Federal cavalry,
under Brigadier General David Gregg was ordered to intercept a Confederate wagon
train helping the railroad to supply the Southern army. The cavalry was
supported by Warren’s 5th Corps and two divisions of the Federal 2nd
Corps under the command of Major General A.A. Humphreys. Confederate forces
were made up of Gordon’s 2nd Corps and Major General William Mahone’s
division of A.P. Hill’s 3rd Corps. Mahone was absent sick, and Brigadier
General Joseph Finegan of Florida was the temporary division commander. The
Federals fielded 34,517 men and the Confederates, 13,835. The bluecoat cavalry
pounded up and down the pike leading to Dinwiddie Court House February 5, but managed to nab only 18 wagons and 50
prisoners. They found no heavily laden Confederate wagon train. The battle
began in the afternoon when Humpreys’ division was attacked by Brigadier
General Joseph R. Cooke’s North Carolina Brigade of Heth’s division, Third
Corps. Evans’ division, including Peck’s Louisianians, came up in support of
the North Carolinians. The fighting began at 4 o’clock that afternoon and
lasted only about 90 minutes. The Confederates pushed to within about 100 yards
before darkness ended the fighting that day. Evans’ men were brought up on
Cooke’s left late in the battle. General Lee was watching the battle from the rear.
On the next day, February 6, the
most prolonged fighting took place in the three day battle. General Lee, seeing that the Federals were
just trying to disrupt the Confederate supply line, ordered Mahone’s and Evans’ divisions back to
their original places. Pegram’s division was ordered to begin probing from
Dabney’s Mill in an eastward direction to find the enemy. Although the Federals
outnumbered the Confederates by more than 2-1, the heavily forested area
essentially nullified that advantage, the way it had on The Wilderness
battlefield. The confusing command and control situation, and poor management
by Grant and Meade, also plagued the Federals as it had at The Wilderness.
Warren’s and Humphreys’ commands were ordered to reconnoiter to determine if
any Confederates were outside their fortifications. Warren, however,
interpreted the order to mean that Humphreys was to do the probing and his 5th
Corps was to standby to support him if
he ran into trouble. Humphreys pushed out in a northern
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| Map by M.D. Jones |
direction
that morning, and then found nothing threatening and returned to his works at
noon. When Meade personally straightened out Warren about the order, Brigadier General Samuel W.
Crawford’s division was ordered at 1:15 o’clock that afternoon, to move out to
the west to see if there were any Confederates out that way. Neither side was
particularly looking for battle at that time and place, but they soon
found one.
When the two opposing forces met at
about 2 o’clock the fighting started and the Federals began slowly pushing
Pegram’s division back. Mahone’s (Finegan’s) and Evans’ divisions were called
back to the scene of action as Pegram continued fighting the Federal infantry
and cavalry alone. Evans’ division came up and fell in on Pegram’s left, with a
considerable gap between the two, and counterattacked. They began slowly
pushing the Federals back, but the Yankees brought up ample reinforcements and
counterattacked and drove the gray jackets back. Evans’ men then were then
readily reformed near the enemy lines and “advanced with spirit” into the
swirling cauldron of battle again, with Pegram on the right, and the enemy was
again driven back. Tragically, however, General Pegram was mortally wounded by
a bullet wound to the side while cheering his men forward. Major Henry Kyd
Douglas was riding near Pegram when he was hit. The major jumped off his
horse and caught the general slumping from his mount, and helped the general to
the ground. The 33-year-old general was dead by the time they got him off his
horse. Pegram had been married to Miss Hetty Carey of Richmond just three weeks
before his death. His funeral was held at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, where he
had also been married. He was buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.
Mahone’s division came up and filled
in the gap between Evans and Pegram. The reinforced Confederates then went
forward for another push. This time the Federals fell back in confusion to their
defenses on Hatcher’s Run. Crawford’s and Ayres’ infantrymen were beginning to
panic, some of whom threw down their weapons and ran to the rear. Warren
complained of the poor quality of the new soldiers that were filling up the
ranks of his corps. He said they had to be kept under constant supervision. It
was also bitterly cold and that night the rain turned to snow. It was a
miserable night in which the Confederates were given only a small pone of
cornbread to eat, and had to try to sleep on frozen ground under wet
blankets. General Lee, who had been present for the
battle, said in his report of February 8 that the men had been without any meat at all for three
days. He also noted they had been exposed to “cold, hail and sleet.” Lee said that his chief commissary officer told
him he had no meat at all, so he ordered the officer back to Richmond to find
some. “The physical strength of the men, if their courage survives, must fail
under this treatment,” Lee wrote. He warned Richmond of dire consequences
if the condition of his soldiers was not improved.
The third day of the battle, February
7, was confined to skirmishing with pickets. Both sides were apparently
satisfied with their current positions, but Warren sent Crawford’s division
back out into the tangled, frozen woods and they encountered only Confederate
pickets who they pressed slowly back until 6 o’clock that evening. They also
buried some of their men who had been killed on the previous days. Warren then
pulled them back to their new fortifications on Hatcher’s Run. The Confederates
also stretched their entrenchments a little further, which made the thin gray line manning those
trenches, even thinner. The Federals reported a total of 1,539 casualties,
including 171 killed, 1,181 wounded and 187 missing or captured. Confederate losses
are estimated at around 1,000. The 10th Louisiana casualties are also unknown.
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| Gen. Clement Evans (Library of Congress) |
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