A Mass Capture

As the first rays of daylight filtered through the rain-drenched woods here on May 12, the men of General George H. Steuart’s brigade heard a commotion up the line to their left. Moments later, through the shifting mists, they saw 20,000 Union soldiers of General Winfield S. Hancock’s Union Second Corps sweeping down the lines to their left and rear. Surprised and defenseless, more than 3,000 Confederate soldiers had little choice but to surrender in one of the largest battlefield captures of the war. Among the captives were General Steuart and his superior, General Edward Johnson. Steuart was standing beside an artillery battery in this vicinity when the Federals appeared. As the cannon next to him recoiled, its trail struck the general, knocking him to the ground. Before he could regain his feet, Hancock’s men were swarming around him, and Steuart became a prisoner. He and Johnson spent three months in Union captivity. After their capture, Steuart and Johnson were hustled back to Hancock’s headquarters at the Landram house. Hancock knew both Johnson and Steuart from pre-war days. Johnson readily shook his captor’s hand, but Steuart refused, saying, “Under the circumstances, I decline to take your hand.” An angry Hancock shot back, “And under any other circumstances I should not have offered it.” Placed under the guard of African-American soldiers, the two generals began the trek to Union prison camps. Hancock provided Johnson with an ambulance. Steuart walked.

Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia · United States