The Battle of Todd's Tavern was fought in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

The Battle of the Wilderness

On May 4, 1864, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's 122,000-man

Army of the Potomac The Army of the Potomac was the principal Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the surrender of the Confedera ...

and Gen.

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of Nort ...

's 66,000-man

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. It was also the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most oft ...

opened the

Battle of the Wilderness The Battle of the Wilderness was fought on May 5–7, 1864, during the American Civil War. It was the first battle of Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign against General Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Arm ...

as a

meeting engagement In warfare, a meeting engagement, or encounter battle, is a combat action that occurs when a moving force, incompletely deployed for battle, engages an enemy at an unexpected time and place. Description Such encounters normally occur by chance in ...

. 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 The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, sometimes more simply referred to as the Battle of Spotsylvania (or the 19th-century spelling Spottsylvania), was the second major battle in Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Maj. Gen. George G. Meade's 1864 ...

, 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 General J.E.B Stuart, a cavalry commander he trusted. Grant's orders to his cavalry chief, General

Philip Sheridan General of the Army Philip Henry Sheridan (March 6, 1831 – August 5, 1888) was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War. His career was noted for his rapid rise to major general and his close as ...

, 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 inconclusive struggle with heavy losses on both sides. The Confederates were slowly pushed back upon Spotsylvania. They were just about to have to flee 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 losses of the Army of Northern Virginia, at the cost of yet more Union casualties, although they could be replaced with fresh Northern recruits. The Confederate army could not replace its men. 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 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: Fredericksburg, Chancel ...

References

External links

National Park Service descriptionBattle of Todd's Tavern
American Battlefield Trust {{DEFAULTSORT:Todds Tavern Overland Campaign Battles of the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War Spotsylvania County in the American Civil War Battles of the American Civil War in Virginia May 1864 events 1864 in Virginia