Battle[edit] On October 27, Hancock marched across Hatchers Run, brushed aside Confederate pickets and moved around the Confederate flank towards Burgess Mill. The division under Brig. Gen. Gershom Mott crossed the Boydton Plank Road and attacked Maj. Gen. Wade Hamptons Confederate cavalry threatening to cut it off from the main Confederate lines. Lt. Gen. A. P. Hill, who commanded the Confederate defenses in the area, reacted quickly to Hancocks threat. However, once his units moved to confront the Federals, Hill, in poor health, proved too sick to continue field command and turned over direction of his corps to Maj. Gen. Henry Heth. Heth put two divisions in Hancocks path, but the Federal commander drove up the Boydton Plank Road and pushed aside the opposing Confederates. At this time both Maj. Gen. George G. Meade and Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant rode out to the battlefield, where Meade immediately noticed a gap between Hancock and the V Corps. With the South Side Railroad still 6 miles (9.7 km) away, Meade realized that continuing the advance would only further isolate the II Corps, and so ordered Hancock to halt. Brig. Gen. Samuel W. Crawfords V Corps division was ordered to link with the II Corps but became caught up in the dense woods. General Grant, meanwhile, made a personal reconnaissance of the Confederate works and, after coming under fire, determined that the Confederates were too strong and called off the offensive. Having never linked up with Crawfords division, Hancocks corps returned to Hatchers Run crossing but found it blocked by Confederate cavalry. This left the entire II Corps isolated on the north side of Hatchers Run without support. With the memory of Reamss Station infusing them, Heth and Hampton saw a golden opportunity to destroy the whole II Corps. Hancocks only line of retreat was the Dabney Mill Road, for which Heth was now aiming. Late in the afternoon, Brig. Gen. William Mahones division attacked through the same woods that had stopped Crawford and seized the Dabney Mill Road, while a Confederate cavalry division under Maj. Gen. W.H.F. Rooney Lee moved up behind the Federals. Mahone moved so far around the Federal flank that Brig. Gen. Thomas W. Egans II Corps division was forced to completely change fronts. Hancock was now surrounded on 3 sides with no line of retreat. But unlike at Reamss Station, the II Corps did not panic, and Hancock seized the initiative. Mahone had almost been too successful and found his division isolated in turn. Hancock ordered an attack on both Confederate flanks. Hampton failed to hold off the Union cavalry and Gregg was able to move up and aid in routing Mahone. The tables had thus turned and the Confederates, now threatened with encirclement, retreated up the Boydton Plank Road. Hancock retained his hold on the Boydton Plank Road and Grant left to him the decision whether to remain or withdraw to the initial Union lines. Although Hancock had repulsed the Confederate attack, his position was still very unstable. That night Hancock marched his men back to their original position.
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 13:40:46 +0000
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