Polegreen Church

Following the cavalry fight at Enon Church on May 28, 1864, Lee moved to block Grant’s advance toward Richmond by stationing his army along a ridge protected by swampy Totopotomoy Creek. When Union infantry arrived, they found Lee’s soldiers solidly dug in. Gen. Winfield Hancock’s Second Corps scouted the position on May 29, then attacked on May 30 and captured a small section of Southern trenches. Frustrated in his attempts to break Confederate lines at the Totopotomoy, Grant sought another way to lure Lee into the open and again tried to maneuver his army between Lee and Richmond, ordering a concentration at Cold Harbor. To screen the Federal movement, Grant launched an assault near here on June 1 that produced a lively artillery duel. Polegreen Church stood between the lines, and shells fired by the Richmond Howitzers at Union sharpshooters in the church struck the building, causing it to catch fire and burn to the ground.

Virginia · United States