Battle of Dabney’s Mill (Hatcher’s Run)
On this day in 1865 at the Battle of Dabneys Mill (also known as Hatchers Run) Union and Confederate forces around Petersburg Virginia begin a three-day battle that produces 3000 casualties but ends with no significant advantage for either side.Dabneys Mill was another attempt by Union General Ulysses S.Grant to break the siege of Petersburg and Richmond Virginia.In 1864 Grant and Confederate General Robert E.
Lee pounded each other as they wheeled south around the cities.After a month of heavy battling that produced the highest casualty rates of the war Grant and Lee settled into trenches around Petersburg.These lines eventually stretched 25 miles to Richmond and the stalemate continued for 10 months.
Periodically Grant mounted offensives either to break through Lees lines or envelope the ends.In June August and October these moves failed to extricate the Confederates from their trenches.Now Grant sent cavalry under General David Gregg to capture a road that carried supplies from Hicksford Virginia into Petersburg.On February 5 Gregg moved and captured a few wagons along his objective the Boydton Plank Road.
He found little else so he pulled back toward the rest of the Union Army.Yankee infantry under General Gouverneur K.Warren also moved forward and probed the area at the end of the Confederates Petersburg line.
The Rebels responded by moving troops into the area.Skirmishes erupted that evening and the fighting continued for two more days as each side maneuvered for an advantage.The fighting surged back and forth around Dabneys Mill but the Yankees were never able to penetrate the Confederate lines.
The Union suffered some 2000 men killed wounded or captured while the Confederates lost about 1000.The battle did extend the Petersburg line a few miles to further stretch Lees thin lines but the stalemate continued for six more weeks before Grants forces finally sent Lee racing west with the remnants of his army.The chase ended in April 1865 when Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House Virginia.
