While Grant and Lee fought at Spotsylvania, Gen. Philip H. Sheridan led 12,000 Federal cavalry on a raid toward Richmond. After destroying a large Confederate supply depot at Beaver Dam Station, Sheridan’s troopers met 4,000 Southern cavalrymen under Gen. J.E.B. Stuart near Yellow Tavern on May 11, 1864. Union cavalry attacked from the west and in heavy hand-to-hand fighting drove Gen. Lunsford Lomax’s Brigade from Telegraph Road before pushing northward. Late in the day, while Richmond local defense troops gathered to guard the capital, Sheridan attacked Stuart on this high ground. The Confederate line shattered, and Stuart fell fatally wounded here while rallying his men. Although the road to Richmond seemed open, Sheridan chose to skirt the city and rejoin Grant’s army.
