The American Civil War - Chronologically

Oct. 27-28, 1864 Second Battle of Fair Oaks (AKA Battle of Fair Oaks and Darbytown Road) Henrico Co., VA Grant: Butler (X Corps, XVIII Corps) vs. Lee: Longstreet's Corp.  * FYI this battle is not to be confused with either the Battle of Darbytown Road or the Battle of Darbytown and New Market Roads - which both take place earlier this month, nearby. (That's actually what the other marker in the distance is about.)  *  Nearing the end of the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign (not the 7 Days), but a lopsided Confederate victory nonetheless. Right before the naval incident at Trent's Reach .   * My research indicates THIS is the only historical marker in America exclusively celebrating the SECOND battle of Fair Oaks.  https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=116722 Second Battle of Fair Oaks Lt. Gen. Ulysses Grant ordered an assault here on 27 Oct. 1864 to divert Confederate attention from a Union attack near Petersburg. Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler, Union commande...

Oct. 7, 1864 Battle of Darbytown and New Market Roads (AKA Johnson's Farm or Four Mile Creek)  Henrico Co., VA Grant: X Corps. (David B. Birney and August V. Kautz) vs. Lee: 2 Divisions  * This battle is definitely not the  Second Battle of Fair Oaks & Darbytown Road . However, it is also not to be confused with the Battle of Darbytown Road a week later, though it totally is. I don't know whether to blame Harper's Weekly or Wikipedia, but this image is labeled "The Battle of Darbytown Road, October 7, 1864," but it can't be both, as the Battle of Darbytown Road was Oct. 13.  * Lee's last advance before ordering The Retreat out of Richmond  https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=310301 One Last Advance Battle of Darbytown (New Market) Road — Siege of Petersburg & Richmond 1864-1865 — For almost ten months beginning in mid-June 1864, the Army of the Potomac besieged the cities of Petersburg and Richmond from the east and south. Gen. Ulysses S. Gra...

Oct. 2-5, 1864 Custer in Bridgewater Bridgewater, VA (Rockingham County) Bridgewater "A Beautiful Village" Confederate soldiers appeared to walk on water on May 19, 1862, as they crossed the North River in front of you on a makeshift bridge. The existing span had been burned, and spring rains made the water too deep to ford, so the Confederates pushed large cargo wagons into the waterway to create a footbridge. The soldiers were part of Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson's army, which had defeated Federals at McDowell on May 8. They were hurrying north to strike a Union detachment in Front Royal. One of the units was the hometown Bridgewater Grays, now Company D of the 10th Virginia Infantry Regiment. Situated along the Warm Springs Turnpike, Bridgewater as a hub of Civil War activity. Mills lined the river, a Confederate remount center allowed cavalrymen to obtain well-rested mounts, and a two-story log cabin was used as a government storehouse for "tax-in-ki...

Sept. 29, 1864 New Market Heights * Sgt. Hilton holds this place until I visit the Battlefield. Like Grant, we will get there eventually. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=219760 Sergeant Alfred B. Hilton Memorial Alfred B. Hilton was born between 1837 and 1842, in the area then known as Hopewell Crossroads (now Level, Maryland). He was the son of Isaac and Harriet Hilton, free citizens who were formerly enslaved in Harford County. Alfred grew up in a large family a few miles outside of Havre de Grace on Gravel Hill Road. In May of 1862, the United States Army established the Bureau of Colored Troops to oversee the active recruitment of Black soldiers, both enslaved and free. Alfred and two of his brothers, Henry and Aaron, along with other free Blacks from the area, enlisted in the 4th Regiment, USCT at a recruiting office in Havre de Grace. The Hiltons were mustered into service on August 11, 1863 in Baltimore, Maryland. Due to his aptitude and 5'10" stature, regimental officers ...

Sept. 23, 1864 Execution of [and by] Mosby's Men Front Royal, VA https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=2447 On 23 Sept. 1864 in a fight south of town, some of Lt. Col. John S. Mosby’s Rangers mortally wounded Lt. Charles McMaster, 2nd U. S. Cavalry, after he allegedly surrendered. Union Gen. Alfred T. A. Torbert’s cavalrymen retaliated by executing six captured Rangers nearby. They shot David L. Jones and Lucien Love behind the Methodist Church, Thomas E. Anderson beneath an Elm Tree, and Front Royal Resident Henry Rhodes in a field in front of Rose Hill. They hanged William Thomas Overby and a Ranger named Carter at the W. E. Carson house. Mosby, believing Gen. George A. Custer responsible, on 6 Nov. ordered an equal number of his men executed near Berryville. And it goes on like that...

September 19, 1864 Third Winchester (AKA the  Battle of Opequon) Winchester, VA (Frederick County) US- Sheridan: ( Wright's  VI Corps and Brig. Gen. William Emory's XIX Corps; VIII Corps under  Brig. Gen. George Crook  and a cavalry division under  Brig. Gen. Alfred T. A. Torbert ) vs. CSA- Jubal Early: Breckinridge, F. Lee * Significant but costly Union victory after Early left behind limited defenses while raiding Maryland  * THE bloodiest battle of the Shenandoah Valley: more died at this battle then in the entire 1862 campaign  *    Confederate generals Robert Rodes and Archibald Goodwin were killed, and generals Fitzhugh Lee, William Terry and William Wharton were wounded. Union Brig. Gen. David Russell was killed, and generals John McIntosh, Emory Upton, and George Chapman were wounded. Yikes.  * Visiting this well-preserved battlefield entails...a lot. On my first pass through I just saw that one marker at the cemetery and ca...