Battle of Port Walthall Junction

The Battle of Port Walthall Junction was fought May 6–7, 1864, between Union and Confederate forces during the Bermuda Hundred Campaign of the American Civil War.[3][4] Although initially successful, the Confederates were eventually defeated, allowing Union forces to cut a railroad. The Port Walthall Junction on the Richmond-Petersburg Railroad connected with the spur to Port Walthall.

Battle of Port Walthall Junction
Part of the American Civil War
DateMay 6–7, 1864
Location
Chesterfield County, Virginia
37°18′42″N 77°24′10″W
Result Union victory
Belligerents
United States (Union) CSA (Confederacy)
Commanders and leaders
Benjamin Butler Johnson Hagood
Strength
8,000[1] 2,600[1]
Casualties and losses
550[2]
Location within Virginia

Battle
Map of Port Walthall Battlefield core and study areas by the American Battlefield Protection Program.

In conjunction with the opening of Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler's Army of the James, 33,000 strong, disembarked from transports at Bermuda Hundred on May 5, threatening the Richmond-Petersburg Railroad. On May 6, Confederate Brig. Gen. Johnson Hagood's brigade stopped initial Federal probes at Port Walthall Junction. On May 7, a Union division drove Hagood's and Brig. Gen. Bushrod Johnson's brigades from the depot and cut the railroad at Port Walthall Junction. Confederate defenders retired behind Swift Run Creek and awaited reinforcements.[2]

Aftermath

Union casualties were more than 300, Confederates fewer than 200, primarily from Hagood's brigade.[5]

Notes
  1. CWSAC Report Update
  2. National Park Service battle description
  3. "Report of Brigadier General Bushrod R Johnson, C S Army". Ohio State University. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  4. "Report of Colonel John S Fulton, 44th Tennessee Infantry". Ohio State University. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  5. Salmon, p. 311.

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Park Service.

References
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