Hatcher's Run Battlefields

Hatcher's Run Battlefields. Using the Terrain. , "We expected to 'rush' the rebels, but on reaching the creek we found it too deep for fording, and the enemy in good rifle-pits on the other bank, about 25 yards away." , , Pvt. Richard McBride, 190th Pennsylvania Infantry, USA, "The old brigade, though worn thin, was invincible, and would have pulled the hinges off the gates of hell if ordered." , , Gen. Nathaniel H. Harris, CSA, From August 1864 to March 1865, the right flank of the Army of Northern Virginia was posted nearby. Lee's engineers would have been hard pressed to find a better location for that purpose. This area offered an opportunity to refuse (or bend back) the Confederate flank with a sweeping field of fire that covered the substantial obstacle of Hatcher's Run. Shelling and sharpshooting were daily threats., To improve the position, Lee's men added substantial earthworks, the remnants of which you see here, and also constructed a dam, which turned Hatcher's Run into a lake, one that Union soldiers dared not to cross all winter. The earthen dam's northern abutment still stands 300 yards to your right., During the winter, both armies were reinforced by soldiers and supplies from other theaters of war. The trickle coming to Lee's army was no match, however, for the vast concentration of Union resources around the city, which was so great as to require the construction of a railroad back to the main depot at City Point, Virginia., (Photo Captions), By building a dam, the Confederates stationed here widened Hatcher's Run and put an impassable obstacle in front of their breastworks. , Courtesy Library of Congress, The terrain on the Confederate right offered numerous military advantages, including a refused flank, clear fields of fire from elevated lines, and a substantial water obstacle. , Courtesy Library of Congress, This contemporary illustration shows the Confederate fortifications at Hatcher's Run. - Courtesy Library of Congress