The Mine Run Campaign

The Mine Run Campaign. The Battle of Payne’s Farm. “The brave officers and men of this division, attacked by a greatly superior force from an admirable position, turned upon him and drove him from the field, which he left strewn with arms, artillery and infantry ammunition, his dead and dying.” , Gen. Edward Johnson, CSA, “The sanguinary loss of the enemy, and their repulse, leaving their dead and wounded in hospital upon the field, exhibit the prowess of the corps beyond any terms which it is in my power to express.” , Gen. William H. French, USA, On the morning of November 27, 1863, Union Gen. George G. Meade expected the Union Third Army Corps under Gen. William H. French to break camp early and march directly to Locust Grove to join the rest of Meade’s command. After a lengthy delay in determining the correct route, French’s leading division under Gen. Henry Prince advanced. It encountered elements of Confederate Gen. Edward Johnson’s division, which was then marching along the road in front of you coming from your left., The battle erupted and spilled into the woods and fields beyond the road. More troops joined the fight until ultimately 16,000 men were engaged. The aggressive Johnson launched a series of uncoordinated assaults against his numerically superior foe. His attacks eventually stalled in bloody stalemate as darkness brought a close to the action. Resulting in more than 1,400 casualties, the Battle of Payne’s Farm (also known as Locust Grove) was the only significant action of the campaign. Johnson’s command suffered heavy casualties but gave the Confederates more time to reunite and establish a strong position along Mine Run., Photo Captions:, The opposing commanders at Payne’s Farm, Confederate Gen. Edward Johnson and Union Gen. William H. French, graduated from West Point a year apart. Both were brevetted to the rank of major for gallantry and meritorious conduct In the Mexican War. Courtesy Library of Congress, In the seesaw Battle of Payne’s Farm, the Union prevailed in holding its positions but lost precious time in assembling at Robinson’s Tavern, which ultimately resulted in the failure of the campaign., The night after the battle, a newspaper correspondent wrote “The fighting that has occurred to-day has been wholly in the woods of the most dense and tangled character, filled with underbrush, dead logs, thickets of scrub oak, &c. , a continuation of the woods to the west of Chancellorsville, from which the country has been so appropriate named “Wilderness.”Courtesy Library of Congress