A half day on the course left me with a free afternoon, after lunch and a quick nap, that is.
Right around area of the hotel where I am staying was fought an action in the Bermuda Hundred Campaign, the Battle of Port Walthall Junction, on May 6th and 7th of 1864.
Port Walthall was a disused tobacco port on the James River. Its claim to fame as an objective was its proximity to the Richmond and Peterburg railroad, with a spur leading from the port to the main line.
The forces involved were not particularly large. On the 6th of May, Heckman's brigade of Massachusetts men fought against Hagood's South Carolinians. The next day, four brigades under WHT Brooks tried again and were stopped by two Confederate brigades. This advance was the farthest made by the Union Army of the James.
This is a NPS study map of the area.
Why do I talk about a travel plaza? Well....because the area where Heckman advanced and fought has a Pilot Travel Plaza built on top of it. There is one graffitied interpretive stand by the Wendy's restaurant.
I'm going to assume that Heckman's men probably didn't use the Drive Thru at the Wendy's but they would have if it had been there back then!
I, on the other hand, did get a small chocolate Frosty...
Unfortunately, it was too dangerous to try to get a picture of the brigade's avenue of advance towards the intersection of Woods Edge Road and Ruffin Mill Road, which was their target. Ruffin Mill Road dates from the period.
I did manage to swing over to the other side of WHT Brooks' right flank attack on the 7th of May.
There is a State Marker right at the Robert E. Lee VFW Post....a little irony there. The view of the road shows Brooks' avenue of advance up what is now Route 1 heading towards Port Walthall Junction. The railroad bridge in the distance was the limit of their advance. Again, it's a bit dangerous to be walking along the sides of the roads, so I tried to take a picture from the VFW towards the railroad bridge.
The total number of casualties was small. Only about 550 total for both sides. The main effect was to convince Benjamin Butler to stop his advance to cut the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad and to dig in and await the Army of the Potomac.
I think this would make a nice set of small scenarios for either Gettysburg Soldiers or maybe Sharp Practice 2, if you didn't want to fight the whole action, but just a segment.
Either way, it was nice to get out into the fresh air and sunshine, even if I did think I was taking my life into my hands with the local motorists.
Not an action to which I am familiar. Four brigades vs two is a small action to see 550 casualties. Luckily, you were not 551! Thanks for the tour.
ReplyDeleteAn afternoon well spent. Sounds a interesting little action. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteAlways good to have a little slice of history one has not come across before. I'm glad you're not history too. It almost sounds like the road is more dangerous than the battle. Is there any reason why Brooks couldn't convert a 2 to 1 advantage into a win?
ReplyDeleteStephen
Stephen, I honestly don't know the full story why Brooks didn't just get on with it. I'm looking things up, but there isn't much to go on. I am hoping to get a chance to dip into the Official Records (ORs) at some point.
DeleteThese little actions most people have never heard of provide justification for made up scenarios on that level.
ReplyDeleteNext time, remember to bring friends with hardhats, orange vests and flags to stop traffic while you have a closer look and take pictures :)
Interesting post and good use of a free afternoon - always nice to soak up a little bit of local military history if you can. I hope you were wearing hi viz when standing adjacent to a freeway!
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