Military
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Unable to break Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s fortified lines at Spotsylvania Court House, Union Gen. Grant ordered Gen. Winfield Hancock’s Second Corps to cross the Mattaponi River at Milford Station and threaten the Confederate army’s line of supply, hoping Lee would try to overpower Hancock’s isolated corps and expose his own army to attack. Gen. Alfred Torbert’s cavalry led Hancock’s column, and when Torbert reached Milford Station on May 21, 1864, he found portions of two regiments of Confederate infantry blocking the way. In a short, stubborn fight, Torbert seized the hill 600 yards behind this site and drove the Confederates across the river. Hancock crossed the Mattaponi later that day, forcing the Confederate army to abandon Spotsylvania. Instead of attacking Hancock’s corps, Lee hurried south to Hanover Junction, where the next battle of the campaign would be fought along the North Anna River.
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Virginia · United States
