Battle of Fair Oaks & Darbytown Road | |||||||
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Part of the American Civil War | |||||||
![]() A drawing of the action on the 27th, by Alfred Waud. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Benjamin F. Butler | James Longstreet | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
X Corps XVIII Corps | Longstreet's corps | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
1,603 | 100 |
The Battle of Fair Oaks & Darbytown Road (also known as the Second Battle of Fair Oaks) was fought on October 27–28, 1864, in Henrico County, Virginia, as part of the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign of the American Civil War.
In combination with movements against the Boydton Plank Road at Petersburg, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler attacked the Richmond defenses along Darbytown Road with the X Corps. The XVIII Corps marched north to Fair Oaks where it was soundly repulsed by Maj. Gen. Charles W. Field's Confederate division. Confederate forces counterattacked, taking some 600 prisoners. The Richmond defenses remained intact. Of Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's offensives north of the James River, this was repulsed most easily. The Medal of Honor was awarded to First Lieutenant William Rufus Shafter for his actions.[1] Union casualties were 1,603, Confederates fewer than 100.[2]
Background
[edit]Order of battle
[edit]Union
[edit]The following Union Army units and commanders fought in the Battle of Fair Oaks & Darbytown Road. It is compiled from the official tabulation of casualties, so includes only units which sustained casualties.[3]
Army of the James
[edit]X Corps
[edit]Division | Brigade | Regiments and Others |
---|---|---|
First Division
|
First Brigade
Col Alvin C. Voris |
|
Second Brigade
Col Joseph C. Abbott |
||
Third Brigade | ||
Second Division
|
First Brigade | |
Second Brigade |
| |
Third Brigade
Col Louis Bell |
| |
Third Division
|
First Brigade
Col James Shaw, Jr. |
|
Second Brigade |
| |
Artillery Brigade
Ltc Richard Jackson |
|
XVIII Corps
[edit]Division | Brigade | Regiments and Others |
---|---|---|
First Division
|
First Brigade
Ltc John B. Raulston |
|
Second Brigade
Col Edgar M. Cullen |
||
Third Brigade |
| |
Unattached |
| |
Second Division
|
First Brigade [not engaged] | |
Second Brigade
Col Edward H. Ripley |
||
Third Brigade | ||
Third Division |
First Brigade
Col John H. Holman
|
|
Second Brigade
Col Alonzo G. Draper |
||
Unattached |
| |
Artillery Division |
||
Cavalry Division
|
First Brigade
Col George W. Lewis |
|
Second Brigade
Col Samuel P. Spear |
| |
Third Brigade
Col Andrew W. Evans |
||
Artillery Brigade |
|
Confederate
[edit]The following Confederate army units and commanders fought at the battle.[4]
Army of Northern Virginia
[edit]First Corps
[edit]LTG James Longstreet
Division | Brigade | Regiments and Others |
---|---|---|
Field's Division
|
Anderson's Brigade |
|
Law's Brigade
|
| |
Gregg's Brigade
|
||
Benning's Brigade |
| |
Bratton's Brigade
|
|
Fourth Corps
[edit]Division | Brigade | Regiments and Others |
---|---|---|
Hoke's Division
|
Hagood's Brigade |
|
Colquitt's Brigade |
| |
Clingman's Brigade |
| |
Kirkland's Brigade |
|
Cavalry Corps
[edit]Division | Brigade | Regiments and Others |
---|---|---|
W. H. F. Lee's Division
|
Barringer's Brigade |
|
Beale's Brigade | ||
Dearing's Brigade |
| |
Butler's Division
|
Butler's Brigade
|
|
Young's Brigade
|
| |
Horse Artillery
|
|
Abbreviations used
[edit]Military rank
[edit]- Gen = General
- LTG = Lieutenant General
- MG = Major General
- BG = Brigadier General
- Col = Colonel
- Ltc = Lieutenant Colonel
- Maj = Major
Other
[edit]- (w) = wounded
- (mw) = mortally wounded
- (k) = killed in action
- (c) = captured
Battle
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ "Medal of Honor awardees". Archived from the original on 2010-04-04. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
- ^ Salmon, p. 445.
- ^ "Number 7. Return of Casualties in the Union Forces". Official Reports Part 1 (Serial Number 87) – Reports. The Siege of Petersburg Online. 17 July 2010. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
- ^ Trudeau, Noah Andre. The Last Citadel: Petersburg, Virginia June 1864 – April 1865. Boston, Massachusetts: Little, Brown and Company, 1991. ISBN 0-316-85327-5.
References
[edit]- National Park Service battle description
- Salmon, John S. The Official Virginia Civil War Battlefield Guide. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2001. ISBN 0-8117-2868-4.
- CWSAC Report Update