Chronology of Wartime Service

February 5-7, 1865

Battle of Hatcher's Run

Relatively little has been written about the sharp but indecisive fighting which occurred at Hatcher's Run on February 5-7, 1865. During this period General Gordon now commanded Early's old Corps, with General Evans in command of Gordon's division, and Colonel John H. Baker of the 13th Georgia commanding the Georgia Brigade.

January found the brigade in winter camp about 12 miles south of Petersburg, Virginia recouperating from their hard campaigning in Maryland and the Valley. It was a relatively quiet time for the cold and hungry soldiers of the Georgia Brigade. A number of soldiers (including Pvt. G. W. Nichols of the 61st Georgia) were lucky enough to obtain furloughs for home visits. Also on Jan. 18, 1865, the much reduced 60th and 61st Georgia regiments were combined into one unit under Col. Waters B. Jones and several companies consolidated.

The southern soldiers had hoped for a quiet winter, but the Union army under Grant was aggressively extending its lines to the left and probing Lee's right flank. Having cut the Weldon Railroad, the next Union target was the Southside Railroad to Danville, the last southward rail link remaining to Lee's army and the only route by which Lee could hope to join his shrinking army with that of General Johnston in the Carolinas. Thus, the Georgia Brigade soon found itself on frequent picket duty and constant alert.

Feb. 5, 1865

Union troops from the Humphrey's Corps marched via the Vaughan Road across Hatcher's Run toward Little Cattail Creek and then turned to advance north and west toward the Boydon Plank Road and Burgess Mill with Hatcher's Run at their right flank. Warren's Corps formed a supporting line two miles to the rear at Moss Neck. Behind them Davies 2nd Union cavalry division moved southward toward Dinwiddie Court House.

Finding the confederate lines entrenched, Humphrey's halted his advance and deployed his veterans about 1000 yards from the confederate lines. It appears that Generals Gordon and A. P. Hill probed the Union positions east of Hatcher's Run near Armstrongs Mill. According to Pvt. Nichols, the Georgia Brigade had a sharp hour and a half skirmish that day. Around 5:00 p.m., Gen. Mahone's division of Hills Corps attacked Humphrey's lines but was repulsed by Smyth's Union division.

Feb. 6, 1865

During the morning, after throwing up hasty defensive works, Humphrey's Union infantry began to advance across Gravelly Run toward Dabney's Mill. On the extreme left, the Union advance was reenforced by Davies Cavalry at 1:00 p.m. and extended along the Boydton Plank Road toward Burgess' Mill. General Gordon dispatched Pegram's Division at daylight to reconnoiter southward along the west bank of Hatcher's Run. The Union troops hit Pegram's advance hard, causing Gordon to call upon Evans' Division for support at 11:00 a.m. The Georgia Brigade left their interrupted church services and moved rapidly to form on the right of Pegram's Virginians and North Carolinians. Gordon's Corps struck back sharply, first with Pegram's Division and then Evans' Division including the Georgia Brigade. General Pegram was killed and his division temporarily disorganized. The lines swayed back and forth, first taking and then giving ground. After the arrival of Gen. Mahone's Division of Hill's Corps around 5:00 p.m. stabilized confederate lines, General Gordon launched a third (or fourth) attack spearheaded by Mahone's division that drove the Union troops back to their starting point, thus ending the fighting.

According to accounts passed to Private Nichol's of the 61st Georgia:

Our brigade was, as usual, first to get into the battle. It charged their works, but failed to rout them on the first assault. It had to fall back across a little boggy branch about 100 yards in the year. Colonel Baker was wounded. Here General Gordon met and rallied it and made the second charge, and routed the Yankees badly in its front. This was a very stubborn battle....A great many of the brigade were killed and wounded in this battle. The Sixty-first Georgia Regiment lost every one of its commissioned officers, either killed or wounded, and from this time till near the close it was commanded by sergeants. The Sixtieth Georgia Regiment went into this battle with thirteen commissioned officers and had eleven of them killed or wounded.

Feb. 7, 1865

The Union troops withdrew from their advanced positions west of Hatcher's Run into their entrenchments on the east side of Hatcher's Run at the Vaughan road crossing, thus ending the battle.

Aftermath

Nichol's account of losses suffered at Hatcher's Run requires some scrutiny since he was not present at the fighting and he could easily have confused the loses suffered there with loses suffered on March 25 at Hare's Hill (Fort Steadman). However, his description of the "stubbornness" of the fighting is borne out by other participants. The Union army reported loses of 170 killed, 1160 wounded and 182 missing. Moreover, any confederate loses suffered at this late stage in the war were significant since there were no new recruits to fill the depleted southern ranks.

After the battle, according to Nichols, "the brigade and division relieved other troops in the ditches in front of Petersburg. Here it was almost a regular fight till the evacuation of Petersburg."

This recounting of the fighting on Feb. 5-7, 1865 at Hatcher's Run is not complete. It is difficult to reconcile the accounts of fighting that occurred on Feb. 5 as described by Pvt. Nichols with the reports of fighting on Feb. 6 by General Gordon and Lee. From accounts, it appears that Gordon's troops fought on both sides of Hatcher's Run at Armstrong Mill and at Burgess' Mill. The role of Mahone's Division on each day is not clear in my mind. What is clear, however, is that the Union attack west of Hatcher's Run was blunted, but that the Union army was successful in establishing its line as far as the east bank of Hatcher's Run at the Vaughan Road crossing, which positioned them for a final and decisive thrust at the Southside Railroad and an encirclement of Lee's army. A subsequent attack at Five Forks on April 1 proved successful, threatening Lee's rear and compelling him to abandon the works at Petersburg and put the Army of Northern VIrginia on the fateful road to Appomattox Court House.

General Gordon does not mention the fighting at Hatcher's Run in his Reiminscences, but his report to General Lee of the battle is appended below followed by General Lee's own report telegraphed to Richmond on Feb. 6th.

Report of Maj. Gen. John B. Gordon, C. S. Army, commanding Second Army Corps, of Hatcher's Run February 6, 1865)

[Source: Official Records of the War of the Rebellion]

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HDQRS. SECOND CORPS, ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA,
February 9, 1865.

COLONEL: I have the honor to submit the following brief report of the fighting on the west side of Hatcher's Run on the 6th instant:

On the morning of that day Pegram's division moved out from camp to reconnoiter, one brigade moving near the run and the others farther to the right and along the Vaughan road. In these positions the brigades were vigorously attacked by both cavalry and infantry in heavy force. They were pressed slowly back, bravely resisting the enemy's advance. Gordon's division, Brigadier-General Evans commanding, sent forward in support, formed on Pegram's left, charged and drove the enemy before it, but was finally forced by superior numbers to retire. It was readily reformed near the enemy's lines, and again advanced with spirit, while Pegram charged on the right. The enemy was again driven back, but General Pegram, who was riding immediately with his troops, being killed, and Colonel Hoffman, commanding brigade, severely wounded, a portion of the line was thrown into confusion. The battle had been obstinately contested for several hours, when Mahone's division arrived and was placed in position to fill a gap between Evans and Pegram. The whole line now advanced to the attack and drove the enemy in confusion to his works along the bank of the creek.

I am, colonel, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

J. B. GORDON,
Major-General, Commanding.

Lieut. Col. W. H. TAYLOR,
A. A. G., Army of Northern Virginia.

Telegraph by Robert E. Lee, General, commanding the Army of Northern Virginia, on Fighting at Hatcher's Run, February 5-6, 1865

Source: Dowdey and Manarin, eds., The Wartime Papers of R. E. Lee, (New York: Bramhall House,1961), no. 944, p. 889

TO: GENERAL SAMUEL COOPER
Adjutant and Inspector General

HEADQUARTERS, ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA
February 6, 1865

The enemy moved in strong force yesterday to Hatcher's Run. Part of his infantry, with Gregg's cavalry, crossed & proceeded on the Vaughan Road, the infantry to Cat Tail Creek, the Cavalry to Dinwiddie Court House, where its advance encountered a portion of our cavalry and retired. In the afternoon parts of Hill's and Gordon's troops demonstrated against the enemy on the left of Hatcher's Run, near Armstrong's Mill. Finding him entrenched they were withdrawn after dark. During the night that force that had advanced beyond the creek returned to it & were reported to be recrossing.

This morning Pegram's Division moved down the right bank of the creek to reconnoiter, where it was vigorously attacked. The battle was obstinately contested several hours, but Genl. Pegram being killed, while bravely encouraging his men, & Col. Hoffman wounded, some confusion occurred, & the Division was pressed back to its original position. Evans' Division, order by Genl. Gordon to support Pegram's, charged the enemy & forced him back, but was in turn compelled to retire. Mahone's Division arriving, enemy was driven rapidly to his defenses on Hatcher's Run, our loss is reported to be small, that of the enemy not supposed great.

R. E. LEE
General

Notes

In preparing this short account of the Battle of Hatcher's Run, I have relied on General Gordon's official report and Robert E. Lee's telegraphic report (above), Nichol's account in his A Soldiers Story of His Regiment, Gregory White's history of the 31st Georgia, and the entry for Hatcher's Run in Patricia L. Faust, ed., Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War, (New York: Harper and Row, 1986) at page 350. I also consulted Gordon reminiscences and memoirs by U.S. Grant and Thomas Lyman to no avail.

A map of the relative fortifications and field of operations south of Petersburg can be found in the Official Atlas of the Civil War at Plate LXXVII (2)

You can learn more about the Battle of Hatcher's Run (and the fighting at Peterburg), by visiting the Petersburg National Battlefield park.

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Last Updated: Jan. 21, 2001