The FReeper Foxhole Remembers the Battle of Yellow Tavern (5/11/1864) - Jan. 19th, 2005

Civil War Times | November 1966 | William W. Hassler

[SAMWolf]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.

.................................................................. .................... ...........................................

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Yellow Tavern

Here the South lost an important cavalry battle -- and one of its greatest generals.

As the Army of the Potomac raced the Army of Northern Virginia from the Wilderness to Spotsylvania Court House on May 8, 1864, dyspeptic Major General George Gordon Meade fretted at Phil Sheridan's delay in clearing the path for the infantry. When Sheridan drew rein at Meade's headquarters just before noon, Meade impatiently upbraided the 33-year-old bantam Irishman for letting the Cavalry Corps impede the march of Warren's V Corps.

General J.E.B. Stuart

Sheridan doughtily barked that Meade had only himself to blame for the holdup since he had countermanded Sheridan's orders to the cavalry. Realizing he had spoken hastily and unfairly, Meade put his hand on Sheridan's shoulder in a conciliatory gesture and said, "No, I don't mean that." But Sheridan was in no mood to be mollified. Shrugging off Meade's friendly hand, he arched his bushy eyebrows and snorted, "If I am permitted to cut loose from this army, I'll draw Stuart after me and whip him too."

Sheridan's prophetic statement, uttered in a burst of anger, expressed his conviction that the cavalry should constitute a compact striking force rather than a nondescript appendage of the infantry for such chores as picket escorts, wagon train guards, and courier duties. In April, Sheridan had called on Lincoln prior to taking command of the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac and informed him, "I'm going to take the cavalry away from the bobtailed brigadier generals. They must do without their escorts. I intend to make the cavalry an arm of the service."

When Meade repeated to Grant Sheridan's boast about whipping Stuart, the commander in chief, who had learned to respect Sheridan in the West, quizzically replied, "Did Sheridan say that? Well, he generally knows what he is talking about. Let him start right out and do it." And losing no time, the cigar-puffing Grant found Sheridan and gave him oral orders to cut loose from the Army of the Potomac with his cavalry, pass around Lee's right, threaten Richmond and in so doing draw off and attack Stuart. Then, after exhausting his rations and forage, he was to replenish his supplies from Ben Butler on the James. Upon completion of his mission, he would rejoin the Army of the Potomac. Grant anticipated that Sheridan's expedition would disrupt Lee's communications and draw off Stuart's cavalry which had harassed his overland campaign.


General Phillip Sheridan

Sheridan assembled his division commanders, Gregg, Merritt, and Wilson, and briefed them on their mission against Stuart. "I know we can beat him," Sheridan confidently asserted, "and in view of my recent representations to General Meade I shall expect nothing but success." Sheridan indicated that the three cavalry divisions would move in a single column around Lee's right flank unless Stuart successfully interposed in which case the Federal cavalry would rejoin the Army of the Potomac by making a wide sweep around Lee's left via Gordonsville. The magnitude of the maneuver pleasantly surprised his lieutenants who were accustomed to hit-and-run forays against limited objectives.

Following this council, the horde of bluecoat troopers cooked three days' rations and packed half a day's forage on their saddles. To increase their mobility, the officers stripped the command of unserviceable animals and cumbersome equipment such as wagons and tents. The only bulky impedimenta taken were the indispensable ammunition trains, two ambulances per division, and a few pack mules to lug the baggage.

At daylight on May 9, Sheridan's well-closed column of fours proceeded to Hamilton's Crossing beyond Fredericksburg and thence southward on Telegraph Road toward Richmond. Sheridan, astride his great black charger, rode in the vanguard accompanied by his headquarters flag bearing red and white twin stars. The scrappy cavalry commander set a leisurely pace for his thirteen-mile column which residents in the area reported took four hours to pass a given point. Little Phil's initial objective was the north bank of the North Anna River just south of Chilesburg where his troopers could forage before meeting Stuart.


Sheridan at Yellow Tavern

Sheridan's 10,000 troopers had been moving at a walk for about two hours and had passed Massaponax Church, ten miles south of Fredericksburg, when Jeb Stuart learned that his new cavalry adversary was initiating a large-scale maneuver. The fact that Sheridan was heading south with his entire corps warned Stuart that the expedition's objective must be a major one: Richmond, the railroads, or both.

Jeb himself had spent the last few days fending off Union infantry and cavalry to enable Lee's advance First Corps under R.H. Anderson to get into position at Spotsylvania Court House. With Grant threatening to outflank the Army of Northern Virginia, Stuart felt obliged to leave Rosser's and Young's brigades of Wade Hampton's cavalry division to cover Lee's flanks.

To cope with Sheridan, Jeb dispatched Wickham's cavalry brigade of Fitzhugh Lee's division, which galloped toward Sheridan's rear. Then after informing General R.E. Lee of what was happening with the cavalry and promising to notify him "if it amounts to anything serious," he rode off toward Telegraph Road with Fitzhugh Lee and the cavalry brigades commanded by James Gordon and Lunsford Lomax. Altogether, Stuart had 4,000-5,000 troopers to intercept Sheridan's 10,000. Late in the afternoon Wickham caught up with Sheridan's rear guard, the 6th Ohio of Brigadier General Henry Davies' 1st Brigade. Wickham attacked and took some prisoners. The main Federal column shrugged off this jab without halting, turned off Telegraph Road, and proceeded toward Beaver Dam where R.E. Lee had located his advance supply depot on the Virginia Central Railroad.


JEB Stuart at Yellow Tavern

At Mitchell's Store, Wickham again spiritedly charged the rear guard, which firmly stood its ground on a hill. After one or two of his regiments had been repulsed, Wickham ordered Captain George Mathews to break the formidable line of bluecoats with a squadron from the 3d Virginia. Confident that "he will go through," Wickham admiringly observed Matthews' column of fours pierce the opposing lines only to have the bluecoats close ranks behind the attackers and maul them. In the ensuing scuffle, Matthews lost eighteen men and was himself mortally wounded while fighting on foot with drawn saber.

At this juncture Stuart rode up to a chorus of huzzas from his weary veterans. After conferring hurriedly with Wickham, Jeb decided to divide his forces. He would take Gordon's brigade westward to Davenport's Bridge where he could move in any direction to probe Sheridan's intentions. Fitz Lee was to follow Sheridan with the remaining troopers in case the bluecoats doubled on themselves to rejoin Grant or to strike out in a different direction.

About dark, Merritt's division crossed the North Anna River at Anderson's Ford while Gregg and Wilson encamped on the north bank, having engaged Wickham, who boldly struck the rear guard. While Merritt's troopers bivouacked, Brigadier General George A. Custer's brigade captured Beaver Dam Station. Charging into the lightly defended depot, the cavalrymen liberated 378 Union prisoners packed into two trains just about to pull out for Richmond. The Confederate custodians of the depot, apprehensive lest their stores fall into enemy hands, set the torch to the warehouses, which held about a million rations of meat and half a million of bread. Custer's men completed the job by destroying precious medical supplies for Lee's army together with 100 railway cars and two locomotives. The Michigan troopers also tore up the railroad tracks and telegraph lines for ten miles.

[SAMWolf]

Early the next morning, May 10, Stuart reunited his command amidst the smoldering ruins of Beaver Dam Station. About breakfast time, Jeb ordered his horse artillery to shell Brigadier General David Gregg's men as they forded the North Anna to join Merritt. A brief skirmish resulted, after which the Federals leisurely resumed their southward route through Negro Foot to Ground Squirrel Bridge over the South Anna River where the corps, virtually unmolested throughout most of the day, bivouacked.



Uncertain whether Sheridan intended to head straight for Richmond or move east and strike the Virginia Central and the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroads, Stuart again split his command. James Gordon's brigade was ordered to harass the enemy's rear while Stuart and Fitz Lee would race southeast, parallel to the Virginia Central tracks, so as to shield the railroads and at the same time interpose a formidable Confederate force across Sheridan's path.

But first Jeb had a pressing personal mission to perform. His lovely, petite wife, Flora, together with five-year-old Jimmy, Jr., and one-year-old Virginia Pelham (named for Maj. John Pelham) were visiting at Colonel Edmund Fontaine's plantation about a mile and a half from Beaver Dam Station. With Major Andrew Venable, his assistant adjutant and inspector general, Stuart galloped to the Fontaine house on his stout gray "General." Without dismounting, Jeb leaned over to kiss his wife, with whom he chatted briefly. Then again kissing her warmly, the cavalry chief wheeled his mount and sped down the drive. To Venable, Stuart seemed more somber than usual, and this feeling was heightened when Jeb broke the silence by commenting that he never expected to survive the conflict, nor did he want to live if the South were conquered. Rejoining Fitz Lee at Beaver Dam Station, Jeb pushed eastward toward Hanover Junction. Their pace on this hot day was slowed by barricades which Sheridan's men had hastily constructed from felled trees. En route, Stuart telegraphed General Braxton Bragg, commanding the forces defending Richmond, informing him that he was pursuing Sheridan as the latter headed for Richmond. Stuart assured Bragg that if Sheridan attacked the capital, the Confederate cavalry would "strike him if he endeavors to escape."

When Stuart arrived at Hanover Junction about 9:00 p.m., he learned that the van of Sheridan's column had reached the South Anna at Ground Squirrel Bridge late that afternoon. During the night Gordon's butternut troopers harassed the Federals as they sought to snatch some sleep.


Yellow Tavern, Jeb Stuart's Last Fight

Concerned lest Sheridan ride through the darkness and outdistance him to Richmond, Stuart impatiently wanted to ride through the night, but Fitz Lee pointed out that the undernourished mounts and troopers were exhausted from the relentless strain of the May campaign. Jeb agreed to a four-hour respite after which the column started south toward Ashland. While this movement was in progress, Union Brigadier General Henry Davies, Jr., broke camp at Ground Squirrel Bridge and led his 1st Brigade of Gregg's division on a raiding mission to Ashland. Here the bluecoats destroyed a locomotive and train, and burned six miles of tracks as well as several government warehouses. When Stuart received word of this, he ordered Colonel Thomas Munford to take his 2d Virginia Cavalry and disperse the marauders. When the Virginians reached Ashland they encountered part of the 1st Massachusetts which were, according to Stuart, "whipped out after a sharp fight."

As Davies' raiders hastened to rejoin Sheridan's main column at Allen's Station farther south on the main column at Allen's Station farther south on the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroads, Stuart became certain that his active and formidable antagonist was planning to storm the defenses which ringed the capital.

Urging his men to press forward with utmost, Stuart, about 8:00 a.m., reached Yellow Tavern, an abandoned, dilapidated hostelry situated at the intersection of Telegraph Road and Mountain Road just six miles north of Richmond. From local inhabitants, Stuart learned that he had outdistanced Sheridan. Surveying the situation, Jeb decided to take a position at Yellow Tavern from which he could assail Sheridan's flank as the Federal cavalry passed this junction. Before disposing his forces, Stuart dispatched Major Henry McClellan, his chief of staff, to ascertain whether Bragg had sufficient troops to defend Richmond in the event Jeb's flank attack failed to hurt the Federals. Bragg reported that he had adequate manpower, which included 4,000 irregulars plus three brigades which had been ordered up from Petersburg. However, McClellan was unable to report this information back to Stuart until afternoon, by which time the cavalry were heavily engaged.



While Stuart awaited McClellan's return, Federal scouting parties arrived on the Confederate front and probed the dispositions Stuart was making with his two brigades. Along a line of wooded hills north of the tavern, Lomax's dismounted troopers took a position roughly parallel to Telegraph Road, while Wickham's men extended the right. Most of the ten cannon were concealed by the undergrowth in Lomax's sector, which lay nearest the line of Sheridan's approach. Two guns were exposed precariously on the road near the Tavern.

During the morning Gordon's North Carolinians diligently but futilely skirmished with a brigade of Gregg's division which brought up Sheridan's rear. As before, the rear guard warded off the free-swinging saber onslaughts of the attackers. In the meantime, Sheridan learned from a prisoner that Stuart was concentrating the main body of his command for a stand at Yellow Tavern. With this information, her ordered Merritt's division to proceed along Mountain Road to the vicinity of Yellow Tavern, which the troopers reached about 11:00 a.m.. Here Colonel Thomas Devins' 2d Brigade swept around Stuart's left and took possession of the Brock Turnpike, which connected Yellow Tavern with Richmond. Thereupon the Confederates withdrew a few hundred yards east of the turnpike.

Sheridan next ordered Wilson's division and one brigade of Gregg's to take position north of Merritt on the Mountain Road. The 5th Virginia and the few available artillerists responded to this threat by pouring a heavy enfilading fire which even Sheridan admitted "made Yellow Tavern an uncomfortably hot place."



As the defenders beat off the Federals, Stuart galloped up to confer with Colonel Henry Pate, the 5th's commander, whose "notorious" fighting zeal had earned the respect of Sheridan's men. Past friction between Stuart and Pate had cooled their relationship but in this crisis both put aside their differences as Stuart commended Pate for his resolute defense and requested him to stand firm until reinforcements arrived. Pate assured Stuart, "I'll hold it until I die, General," whereupon he extended his hand in friendship. When Sheridan began probing Stuart's lines in the afternoon, Pate fulfilled his promise at the cost of his own life, evoking from Stuart the encomium, "Pate had died the death of a hero." Jeb then ordered Wickham to advance on the right to relieve the pressure on the left. Wickham quickly drove the bluecoats back to their rail breastworks in the woods, after which he fell back to the main line of defense.

[SAMWolf]

By mid-afternoon Sheridan had finished probing the Confederate position; thereupon both sides utilized an hour's lull to prepare for the imminent full-scale collision. Lomax and Wickham reformed their lines so as to interpose a series of fences, streams, and woods between themselves and the bluecoats. All of Stuart's troopers remained dismounted save part of the 1st Virginia, which was posted as a mounted reserve to stem any breakthrough or to counterattack as the situation demanded. Two guns of the horse artillery covered the extreme left while Stuart posted himself near a battery on the right of his line.



Opposite Lomax's front, 24-year-old Custer, Sheridan's brash but capable beau sabreur, personally examined the ground and, in his own words, "discovered that a successful charge might be made upon the enemy battery by keeping well to the right."

Custer ordered Colonel Alger and Major Kidd of the 5th Indiana and 6th Michigan respectively, to advance their dismounted regiments and occupy Lomax's attention on the Federal left while Heaton's battery engaged them in front. Meantime, Colonel Stagg's 1st Michigan Wolverines rode to the right under cover of the woods to flank the Confederate battery.

About 4 o'clock in the afternoon a bluecoat bugler sounded the advance and Custer's regiments charged. The 1st Michigan cleared five fences and crossed a narrow bridge. Then, increasing their gait from a walk to full speed, the yelling Wolverines charged the battery "like a hurricane," capturing two cannon, two limbers filled with ammunition, and a number of prisoners. Custer's charge was reinforced by Gibbs, Devin, and Chapman, who drove back Wickham and shattered Lomax's line, forcing most of the Virginia brigade toward a ravine 400 yards behind the front.



At the onset of this attack, Jeb, waving his brown felt hat, rode with his aides to the threatened sector which soon was overrun by the 5th Michigan. The Federals dashed past Stuart only to be turned back by the counterattacking 1st Virginia. While this action was in progress, Stuart rallied into line a knot of Lomax's dismounted men behind a fence where they awaited the returning bluecoats. Jeb, sitting on his mount, drew his pistol and emptied it into the oncoming ranks as he repeatedly shouted, "Steady, men, steady; give it to them!" Custer's men did not dally to engage the Virginians, but pushed on toward their original line-all save a few, including 48-year-old Private John A. Huff of Company E, 5th Michigan. Huff, reputedly the best shot in Berdan's Sharpshooters prior to joining the cavalry, had lost his horse in the charge and was making his way back to the Federal lines on foot, firing his pistol as he ran. Passing within ten to fifteen yards of Stuart, Huff turned and fired at the Confederate leader.

Huff's .44-caliber bullet grazed a small Bible in Stuart's pocket and struck him in the right side of the abdomen, perforating the intestine. Seeing Jeb's head droop as the general felt the wound with his hand, Captain Dorsay of the 1st Virginia anxiously inquired, "Are you wounded badly?"

With disciplined composure, Stuart candidly replied, "I am afraid I am, but don't worry, boy; Fitz [Lee] will do as well for you as I have done."

As aides solicitously placed Stuart in an ambulance and started to move him from the field, he caught sight of two of his men fleeing to the rear, which roused him to cry out: "Go back, go back and do your duty, as I have done mine, and our country will be safe. Go back! Go back!" Then as a final plea he shouted, "I had rather die than be whipped." Before his wife could reach his bedside the next day the gallant 31-year-old Confederate cavalryman breathed his last.



Back at Yellow Tavern the disorganized brigades of Lomax and Wickham retired toward Richmond as Gordon's lone brigade mounted a full-scale assault on Sheridan's rear. In anticipation of this attack, Sheridan ordered David Gregg to take position behind advance breastworks, where his men repelled the charge before it reached the fortifications. Gregg then counter-charged, leaving the Federals in possession of the field and the Brock Turnpike leading to Richmond.

The next day part of Wilson's command penetrated the capital's outer defenses, leading Sheridan to boast, "I could capture Richmond if I wanted, but I couldn't hold it.... It isn't worth the men it would cost; but I'll stay here all day to show these fellows how much I care for them, and go when I get ready."

In retrospect, the engagement at Yellow Tavern was tactically insignificant but it had momentous impact on the sunset of the Confederacy in that the South henceforth would be deprived of the invaluable services of Jeb Stuart whom Lee mourned with the comment: "He never brought me a piece of false information." And as Brigadier General James Wilson, who rode with Sheridan in this campaign, noted in his official report of Stuart's mortal wounding at Yellow Tavern: "From it may be dated the permanent superiority of the national cavalry over that of the rebels."

Additional Sources:

www.nps.gov
www.mortkunstler.com
www.civilweek.com
cavalry.km.ru
mikelynaugh.com
www.oldgloryprints.com

[SAMWolf]

'Do your duty as I've done mine, I'd rather die than be whipped'

General JEB Stuart,
mortally wounded on the field at Yellow Tavern, May 11, 1864.

'I could capture Richmond, if I wanted, but I can't hold it. It isn't worth the men it would cost.'

General Philip Sheridan
after the Battle of Yellow Tavern

[SAMWolf]

Veterans for Constitution Restoration is a non-profit, non-partisan educational and grassroots activist organization. The primary area of concern to all VetsCoR members is that our national and local educational systems fall short in teaching students and all American citizens the history and underlying principles on which our Constitutional republic-based system of self-government was founded. VetsCoR members are also very concerned that the Federal government long ago over-stepped its limited authority as clearly specified in the United States Constitution, as well as the Founding Fathers' supporting letters, essays, and other public documents.

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UPDATED THROUGH APRIL 2004



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[SAMWolf]

"FALL IN" to the FReeper Foxhole!



Good Wednesday Morning Everyone.



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[alfa6]

Call in night shift bump for the Freeper foxhole

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[Neil E. Wright]

Hiya SAM and snippy

Just a quick inspection tour here ... I see somebody cleaned up all my empties from my last visit ... who do I have to thank? :)

On a serious note, again I would like to thank you two for all the GREAT history lessons you're providing in these threads. I did a quick GOOGLE search for FReeper FOXHOLE and these threads are linked from in such diverse sites as: www.best-golfing.com/, www.nydivorcenowinfo.com/, www.logoi.com/, www.guide2-loans.com/, www.nutleysons.com/, www.jpcruise.com/, www.foodlines.com/ AND thousands of other sites!!!! Your reach is almost UNBELIEVEABLE!!!! GOOD JOB, kids!!!! You make the ol' man PROUD!!! Keep up the good work.

GOOGLE SEARCH results here you can search each page in your browser for "FReeper FOXHOLE" and find the links

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"The Era of Osama lasted about an hour, from the time the first plane hit the tower to the moment the General Militia of Flight 93 reported for duty."
Toward FREEDOM

[radu]

Good morning everyone!

To all our military men and women past and present, military family members, and to our allies who stand beside us
Thank You!

[Aeronaut]

Good morning Sam.

[Iris7]

This piece is very interesting, well written, and to my knowledge of the events described (very skimpy) accurate.

James Ewell Brown Stuart I believe to have been a very decent man, kind and warm, and the best sort of leader. Not a Nathan Bedford Forrest, for sure, but who is?

Phillip Henry Sheridan was one tough hombre. Great grasp of time and distance, of Corps level operations, I think. What they call "operational art" these days.

You folks might think from the above that I have an exaggerated regard for Bedford Forrest. On the contrary. Forrest was the greatest Anglo fighting man since Robert the Bruce.

Not talking about Commanders in Chief. Statesmanship is required of them. I like George Washington as the greatest American Commander in Chief, though, believe it or not, George Walker Bush may eclipse even General Washington.

And, Matthew, I suspect King Wladyslav II Jagiello, King of Poland, might be another of this caliber. Gruenewald (July 15, 1410) was only a small part of his remarkable career.

Maybe Wallenstein, who so nearly ended the Thirty Years War. The vile Richelieu, again. SAM, don't believe there aren't Frenchmen I really, really do not like. Poincare, for instance, started the First World War, bringing about what is nearly now seen to be the end of Western Civilization.

[E.G.C.]

Good morning Snippy and everyone at the Foxhole.

[GailA]

Good morning

[The Mayor]

January 19, 2005

Companions

Read: Psalm 119:57-64

I am a companion of all who fear You. —Psalm 119:63

Bible In One Year: Exodus 11-13

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Two men were neighbors—one had opened his heart to Christ and the other had not. The believer witnessed often; the other ignored him.

One day the Christian answered a knock at his door and his neighbor stood before him with a big smile. "I finally did what you said. This morning I opened my heart to Jesus!" The two embraced and cried. Over the years, they supported and prayed for each other, and they became the best of friends. They served together in an effective jail ministry for 25 years.

Fellowship is an essential part of what it means to be a Christian. The psalmist made this strong statement of identification with those who reverence God and keep His commands: "I am a companion of all who fear You" (Psalm 119:63). The Bible has numerous examples of companionship: David had Jonathan. Paul had Silas. Mark had Barnabas. Jesus had His disciples. The churches in Acts were made up of people who stood together in sometimes hostile and difficult circumstances.

The church is a fellowship, a community. Our circle of Christian friends helps us in many ways as we walk together along the path God has laid out for us. They offer just the kind of companionship we need. —Dave Egner

Lord, help us see how much we need each other
As we walk along the Christian way;
In fellowship with sister and with brother,
You will keep us growing day by day. —Hess

Christian fellowship promotes spiritual growth.

[Professional Engineer]

Good morning ladies( and Sam ~snicker~). Flag-o-Gram.

[Samwise]

Your reach is almost UNBELIEVEABLE!!!!

Remember, Grasshoppers, you must always use your power for Good. :^)

[Samwise]

Hey! Why the snicker?

[SAMWolf]

Morning alfa6.

[SAMWolf]

Morning Neil.

I think Snippy is in charge of the cleaning here, besides she collect the cans to get the deposit. ;-)

Golfing, divorces and food sites? Who would have thunk it?

[SAMWolf]

Morning Radu.

[SAMWolf]

Morning Aeronaut.