Grant Reacts

After Ledlie's assault ended in a bloody repulse, Grant recognized that the Confederates held Ox Ford in strength and that he had maneuvered the Army of the Potomac into a dangerous position south of the North Anna. With six miles separating the two Union wings and only a single division guarding the gap, movement from one wing to the other required crossing the river twice. The most promising point for Lee's army to strike was here, where Crittenden's battered division and General Samuel Crawford's two small brigades of Pennsylvania Reserves were isolated from the rest of the Union army. Major General Ambrose E. Burnside warned General Winfield S. Hancock on May 24, 1864, at 10:20 pm that Crittenden and Crawford were cut off from both Hancock and Warren and from that side of the river except by a deep rocky ford. Grant responded by ordering engineers to build pontoon bridges to reconnect his divided army, while corps commanders halted and dug in, and the two Federal divisions along the river prepared trenches in darkness and rain expecting a Confederate attack at daybreak.

Virginia · United States