Battle of Port Walthall Junction

Battle of Port Walthall Junction
Part of the American Civil War
Date May 6–7, 1864 Location Chesterfield County, Virginia 37°18′42″N 77°24′10″W / 37.3116°N 77.4028°W / 37.3116; -77.4028 Result Union victory
Belligerents
United States (Union)	CSA (Confederacy)
Commanders and leaders
Benjamin Butler	Johnson Hagood
Strength
8,000[1]	2,600[1]
Casualties and losses
550[2]
class=notpageimage| Location within Virginia

The Battle of Port Walthall Junction was fought May 6–7, 1864, between Union and Confederate forces during the Bermuda Hundred Campaign of the American Civil War.^[3][4] Although initially successful, the Confederates were eventually defeated, allowing Union forces to cut a railroad. The Port Walthall Junction on the Richmond-Petersburg Railroad connected with the spur to Port Walthall.

In conjunction with the opening of Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler's Army of the James, 33,000 strong, disembarked from transports at Bermuda Hundred on May 5, threatening the Richmond-Petersburg Railroad. On May 6, Confederate Brig. Gen. Johnson Hagood's brigade stopped initial Federal probes at Port Walthall Junction. On May 7, a Union division drove Hagood's and Brig. Gen. Bushrod Johnson's brigades from the depot and cut the railroad at Port Walthall Junction. Confederate defenders retired behind Swift Run Creek and awaited reinforcements.^[2]

Union casualties were more than 300, Confederates fewer than 200, primarily from Hagood's brigade.^[5]

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Park Service.

• National Park Service battle description
• CWSAC Report Update
• Salmon, John S. The Official Virginia Civil War Battlefield Guide. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2001. ISBN 0-8117-2868-4.

• Battle animation, Chesterfield Historical Society of Virginia.