Douglas Crenshaw - Fort Harrison and the Battle of Chaffins Farm: To Surprise and Capture Richmond (Civil War Series)

Published by The History Press

Charleston, SC 29403

www.historypress.net

Copyright 2013 by Douglas Crenshaw

All rights reserved

First published 2013

e-book edition 2013

ISBN 978.1.62584.771.3

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Crenshaw, Douglas.

Fort Harrison and the Battle of Chaffins Farm : to surprise and capture Richmond / Douglas Crenshaw.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

print edition ISBN 978-1-60949-581-7

1. Fort Harrison, Battle of, Va., 1864. I. Title.

E477.21.C74 2013

973.737--dc23

2013040278

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Contents

Acknowledgements

I would like to take a moment to thank the people who have helped with this book. Bob Krick, chief historian for the Richmond National Battlefield Park (RNBP), has been very gracious. He has listened to my questions, assisted in finding materials, patiently read my work and offered invaluable suggestions. Any errors contained in this work are mine alone. Bob and others at the Richmond Park have assembled an amazing library of primary and secondary materials related to the Richmond battlefields, and they also have an excellent collection of photographs. Bob has been of great assistance in allowing me access to all of this, which has been essential to this book. He could not have been more generous. RNBP historians Bert Dunkerly and Mike Gorman also provided materials and offered suggestions in the preparation of this manuscript. Mike was particularly generous with his time in helping to research and study photographs and maps and in walking the battlefield with me to better understand the terrain. Thanks also to RNBP historian Ashley Luskey, who suggested the topic to me.

Bill Dunlap was very generous in allowing me to use a print of Gilbert Gauls Storming the Ramparts, a striking work, and thanks to Vernon Wickstrom for his kind permission to use the image of Theodore Blakely, whose story I found to be most compelling. Alyson Rhodes-Murphy and Pam Greene of Henrico County were very generous with their time in collecting images for this work. Clifton Hyatt of the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center, U.S. Army Military History Institute was very responsive and helpful in my search for images.

Hal Jespersen prepared the maps. As is evident, he is very talented, and his extreme patience and suggestions were invaluable. Banks Smither, my editor at The History Press, has been exceedingly helpful and patient. He has been instrumental in getting this, my first work, into print.

Finally, thanks to my wife, Judy, who suffered through the recounting of endless stories about the battles, allowed me time to work on the project and encouraged the whole undertaking.

A NOTE ON SOURCES

Although a wide array of primary and secondary material was researched in the preparation of this book, a few works stand out as recommended reading for anyone who is seeking to study the topic further.

Richard J. Sommerss Richmond Redeemed: The Siege at Petersburg is an outstanding piece of scholarship. Dr. Sommers provides great detail, not only about the actions north of the river, but also those in the Petersburg front in the fall of 1864. The depth of his research is amazing, and it shines through in the rich detail of his text. It is a remarkable battlefield study. Any serious student of this period must consult Dr. Sommerss work.

Dr. Louis Manarins Henrico County Field of Honor is a beautiful and detailed two-volume study of the Civil War experience of Henrico County, Virginia. Deeply researched, it contains good maps and many paintings, pictures and illustrations. It is a very enjoyable read. The first volume covers through 1862, and the larger second volume addresses the remainder of the war. An interesting postlude discusses what became of the battlefields in the century and a half following the war. The two-book set is available through the County of Henrico Department of Parks and Recreation, and the Richmond National Battlefield Park often carries them in its Tredegar Bookstore.

For a study of the Battle of New Market Heights, James S. Prices The Battle of New Market Heights: Freedom Will Be Theirs by the Sword is required reading. Jimmy studies the right flank of Ben Butlers attack on September 29, and he covers the involvement of the United States Colored Troops (USCTs) with depth and respect. I highly recommend it.

Prologue

Fort Harrison is not a famous name like Gettysburg, Antietam or Vicksburg. Its not even one of the better-known sites in the Richmond National Battlefield Park system. Many more visitors travel to Cold Harbor, Gaines Mill and Malvern Hill. This is unfortunate because the actions at Chaffins Farm on September 29 and 30, 1864, were critically important. The Union came closer to capturing Richmond than at any other time during the war, until that city surrendered in April 1865. Thousands of lives potentially could have been saved had the Federal attack been completely successful.

For many of the men who fought at Chaffins Farm, these would be the most important and most terrifying days of their lives. Indeed, many of these brave menhusbands, fathers and sonsperished fighting on these fields. Others suffered terrible and often life-changing wounds. African American soldiers not only faced the possibility of death in combat, but if captured, they were also presented with the real threat of being sent into slavery. We do well to pause on what happened here, to think of the brave men who fought and the desperate action that took place. In his study of an American army fighting in a later war, Rick Atkinson said it well: The authors task is to authenticate: to warrant that history and memory give integrity to the story, to aver that all of this really happened. But the final few steps must be the readers. For among mortal powers, only imagination can bring back the dead.

Chapter 1

The Summer of 64

It was May 1864, the fourth summer of the war. Over the previous three years, President Lincoln had tried a succession of commanders to lead the Army of the Potomac, but none seemed to be able to bring Robert E. Lee and his vaunted Army of Northern Virginia to bay. Frustrated by the lack of initiative by his army since its victory at Gettysburg, Lincoln summoned Ulysses S. Grant from the west to be the commander of all Union armies. Grant had been the hero of Forts Henry and Donelson, Shiloh and Vicksburg and seemed to have the fighting spirit and determination that had been lacking in the top level of the Army of the Potomac. There was no doubt that the rank and file of that army possessed all the courage and will to fight that anyone could ask for, as they had proven time and time again. They just needed leadership, and Lincoln was betting it all on Grant. There would be a presidential election in 1864. With the mounting losses of the past three years, and nothing to show for it in the eastern theater, time could well be running out.