Battle of Todds Tavern
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Todd's Tavern was fought in Virginia
during the American Civil War
..
and Gen. Robert E. Lee
's 66,000-man Army of Northern Virginia
opened the Battle of the Wilderness
as a meeting engagement
. This battle, fought primarily on May 5 and 6, proved costly to both sides, as well as being essentially a draw. As he believed his position untenable (since he had not successfully interposed his army between Grant and Richmond), Lee believed Grant would continue his move towards Richmond. Lee therefore moved to block Grant by shifting the Army of Northern Virginia southward towards Spotsylvania Court House, a crucial junction in the most direct routes from Grant's position in the Wilderness to Richmond.
The battle resumed the next morning. It was an obstinate struggle with heavy losses on both sides. The Confederates were slowly pushed back upon Spotsylvania. They were just about to have to abandon the crossroads when the first of Lee's infantry arrived, across a bridge Sheridan had ordered his cavalry to destroy. The infantry secured the area for the Confederacy.
.
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
..
The Battle of the Wilderness
On May 4, 1864, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's 122,000-man Army of the PotomacArmy of the Potomac
The Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.-History:The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was then only the size of a corps . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen...
and Gen. Robert E. Lee
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....
's 66,000-man Army of Northern Virginia
Army of Northern Virginia
The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War, as well as the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most often arrayed against the Union Army of the Potomac...
opened the Battle of the Wilderness
Battle of the Wilderness
The Battle of the Wilderness, fought May 5–7, 1864, was the first battle of Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign against Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. Both armies suffered heavy casualties, a harbinger of a bloody war of attrition by...
as a meeting engagement
Meeting engagement
A meeting engagement, a term used in warfare, is a combat action that occurs when a moving force, incompletely deployed for battle, engages an enemy at an unexpected time and place.-Description:...
. This battle, fought primarily on May 5 and 6, proved costly to both sides, as well as being essentially a draw. As he believed his position untenable (since he had not successfully interposed his army between Grant and Richmond), Lee believed Grant would continue his move towards Richmond. Lee therefore moved to block Grant by shifting the Army of Northern Virginia southward towards Spotsylvania Court House, a crucial junction in the most direct routes from Grant's position in the Wilderness to Richmond.
The battle
Lee assigned the job of slowing down the Union columns and protecting the Confederates' route to Gen. Jeb Stuart, his trusted cavalry commander. Grant's orders to his cavalry chief, Gen. Philip H. Sheridan, were to cut the route the Confederates would take to Spotsylvania and to take and hold the crossroads. On May 7, the two opposing cavalries met at Todd's Tavern at 4:00pm. They engaged in a slashing cavalry battle until after dark. The Confederate cavalry retired after nightfall.The battle resumed the next morning. It was an obstinate struggle with heavy losses on both sides. The Confederates were slowly pushed back upon Spotsylvania. They were just about to have to abandon the crossroads when the first of Lee's infantry arrived, across a bridge Sheridan had ordered his cavalry to destroy. The infantry secured the area for the Confederacy.
Aftermath
Declaring the battle victorious for either side is problematic. While Stuart's cavalry was tactically defeated, Sheridan failed to cut the Confederate route to Spotsylvania, resulting in the bloody battle that ensued there. Yet, the delay caused by Sheridan's cavalry prevented Lee from gaining the advantages that an unhindered march to Spotsylvania would have garnered. The net effect was the continued and eventually fatal bleeding of the Army of Northern Virginia, at the cost of yet more Union casualties ... which could be replaced with fresh Northern recruits. Thus, on the balance, the result was very slightly better than a draw for the Union forces. Today, there is information about the battle in the area provided by the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military ParkFredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park
Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park is a unit of the National Park Service in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and elsewhere in Spotsylvania County, commemorating four major battles in the American Civil War.-Park:...
.