Harris Farm

On May 4, 1864, Union Gen. George Meade’s Army of the Potomac crossed the Rappahannock River to engage Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia and destroy it, beginning the Overland Campaign as part of Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s plan to strike Confederate forces simultaneously throughout the South. As Grant and Meade followed Lee south, some of the bloodiest fighting of the war took place at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, North Anna River, and Cold Harbor, before the ten-month siege of Richmond and Petersburg began in mid-June. During the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, Grant and Meade battered Lee’s defenses, and when direct assault failed, Grant shifted eastward hoping to draw Lee out of his trenches. Suspecting this movement, Lee ordered Gen. Richard S. Ewell to uncover Grant’s intentions. On May 19, 1864, Ewell sent his entire corps, reduced by recent fighting to 6,000 men, on a reconnaissance-in-force toward the Fredericksburg Road, with Gen. Stephen D. Ramseur’s North Carolina brigade leading the march. About 4 P.M., Ramseur’s men encountered a small Union force one mile west of here and slowly drove them back to this point. Ewell’s advance caught Grant off guard, and fearing that the Confederates might seize the Fredericksburg Road and jeopardize his supply line, Grant ordered nearby troops into action. Many of the Union regiments hurried into the fight were untested, having been recently pulled from the defenses of Washington, D.C., to support the Army of the Potomac. A brief, fierce battle caused nearly 2,400 casualties, but Ewell ultimately relinquished control of the battlefield. Three days later, Grant pushed his army south and confronted Lee again along the North Anna River.

Virginia · United States