Battle of Trevilian Station "Mission Abandoned"  June 11 - 12, 1864

Union Gen. Philip Sheridan's cavalry had suffered heavy losses in the June 11, 1864, fight with Confederate Gen. Wade Hampton's troopers at Trevilian Station, VA. Though his Union force had held the field, Sheridan was apprehensive about the success of the ambitious mission assigned him by Gen. Ulysses S, Grant. The part of the assignment aimed at drawing the Confederate cavalry away from Grant's army at Cold Harbor had been accomplished, but even though Sheridan's men outnumbered the enemy horsemen eight to five, the Rebels were seriously hampering the progress of the rest of the mission. Sheridan was supposed to proceed westward to Charlottesville and join forces with Gen. David Hunter's Union army. The combined force was to destroy the Virginia Central Railroad and the James River Canal as they returned eastward toward Richmond.

On the morning of June 12, the Union troopers were tearing up the tracks to the west of Trevilian Station when they came upon Hampton's dismounted men entrenched and barring the way. Sheridan's men made repeated costly attacks on the Rebel position but could not gain an inch of ground. After nightfall Sheridan decided to abandon the rest of the mission. He retreated eastward, burdened by 1,000 wounded men, 500 prisoners, and hundreds of escaped slaves who flocked to his column. His movement back to Grant's army took five days longer than the four day advance westward. The weather was hot and dry, and the men suffered from a lack of water. A Union trooper recalled the "intense heat and terrible dust, at times so dense that we were nearly suffocated."

All along the route Hampton's men hung on the flanks and rear of the Union column, making harassing attacks whenever possible. The two day cavalry battle at Trevilian Station resulted in 1,516 Union casualties and fewer than 1,100 Rebel casualties. Both sides claimed victory, but the Southerners had the greatest success in the total operation.

Fascinating Fact:  The damage Sheridan had inflicted on the railroad was repaired by the Rebels even before Sheridan made it back to the Union lines.


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