Bristoe Station was a Civil War engagement fought in Virginia, 1863. It was a Union victory.
On October 14, 1863, A.P. Hill's corps stumbled upon two corps of the retreating Union army at Bristoe Station and attacked without proper reconnaissance. Union soldiers of the II Corps, posted behind the Orange & Alexandria Railroad embankment, mauled two brigades of Henry Heth's division and captured a battery of artillery. Hill reinforced his line but could make little headway against the determined defenders. After this victory, the Federals continued their withdrawal to Centreville unmolested. Lee's Bristoe offensive sputtered to a premature halt. After minor skirmishing near Manassas and Centreville, the Confederates retired slowly to Rappahannock River destroying the Orange & Alexandria Railroad as they went. At Bristoe Station, Hill lost standing in the eyes of Lee, who angrily ordered him to bury his dead and say no more about it.
At Bristoe Station, Virginia, on October 14, 1863, troops loyal to the Union clashed with Confederate soldiers as part of the wider Bristoe Campaign. Maj. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren led the Union side, while Lt. Gen. A. P. Hill commanded the opposing Confederate force. Hill launched an assault against the Union rearguard, but Warren's II Corps caught the attackers off guard and drove them back, securing a triumph for the Union.
Command of the Union forces rested with Maj. Gen. George G. Meade, while General Robert E. Lee directed the Confederates. Lee managed to outmaneuver his opponent by circling around Cedar Mountain, ground that had already seen fighting back in 1862. This maneuver compelled Meade to fall back toward Centreville. That withdrawal kept Lee from striking an unprotected side of the Army of the Potomac. During this retreat, II Corps, under Maj. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren since Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock was away, trailed behind V Corps. Near Auburn, Virginia, on October 13, Warren's men clashed with cavalry led by Maj. Gen. J. E. B. Stuart in what became known as the First Battle of Auburn, or "Coffee Hill," a name born from the moment Confederate artillery fire interrupted Union soldiers brewing their coffee. Warren faced the dual challenge of clearing Stuart's horsemen from his path while simultaneously falling back ahead of the oncoming Confederate corps commanded by Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell. The following day, October 14, found Warren's column heading toward Bristoe Station while Stuart's cavalry continued to press and harass the trailing Union troops in what would be called the Second Battle of Auburn.
Meanwhile, on Ewell's left flank, Lt. Gen. A. P. Hill pushed his Confederate Third Corps forward and arrived at Bristoe Station that same day, October 14 (newspapers of the era rendered the town's name variously as Bristoe, Bristow, or Bristo). Hill attempted to strike at V Corps' rear guard on the far side of Broad Run, unaware that II Corps was simultaneously arriving from the direction of Auburn. When Warren spotted Heth's approaching troops, he swiftly positioned his men behind a railroad embankment belonging to the Orange and Alexandria line near Bristoe Station. This positioning set the stage for a devastating trap, one that sprang into action as Hill's corps advanced to engage what they believed was merely a vulnerable Union rear guard across Broad Run.
Heth's division, under Maj. Gen. Henry Heth, had initially been ordered against V Corps before its target shifted to II Corps. Capt. R. Bruce Ricketts's Union battery opened the engagement with artillery fire, and rifle fire from the infantry followed shortly after. Even so, Heth's troops managed for a brief span to break into the position held by Col. James E. Mallon, part of the second division commanded by Brig. Gen. Alexander S. Webb. A federal counterattack pushed the Confederates back and seized five cannon from one of their batteries. Mallon lost his life during this clash. Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Richard H. Anderson's Confederate division struck at Brig. Gen. Alexander Hays's men, only to be turned away as well. Brig. Gen. Carnot Posey suffered a mortal wound during that assault. Among Heth's brigade leaders, both William Whedbee Kirkland and John Rogers Cooke sustained serious wounds.
Losses fell unevenly on the two sides: 540 men in Union ranks, roughly 1,380 among the Confederates. As Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell's Second Corps advanced toward his left flank, Warren found himself with no choice but to pull back. According to accounts, Lee dismissed Hill's attempts to justify the setback, telling him simply to bury the dead and speak of it no further. Though the field belonged to the Union, its army was forced back to Centreville, Virginia, before finally holding firm. The withdrawal began on October 18, and during it Confederate troops tore up large sections of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. This left Meade with the task of rebuilding the line once his forces returned to occupy the ground near Bristoe Station. The engagement did much for Warren's standing as a commander, and once Hancock rejoined the Army of the Potomac in 1864, it was Warren who received permanent command of V Corps.
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