Proctor's Creek was a Civil War engagement fought in Virginia, 1864. It was a Confederate victory.
After his repulse at Swift Creek and Fort Clifton on May 9, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler withdrew into his entrenchments at Bermuda Hundred. A Confederate army of 18,000 was patched together under command of Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard to confront Butler's 30,000. On May 12, Butler moved north against the Confederate line at Drewry's Bluff but again adopted a defensive posture when his attack was not supported by gunboats. On the 13th a Union column struck the right flank of the Confederate line at the Wooldridge House, carrying a line of works. Butler remained cautious, however, giving Beauregard time to concentrate his forces. On May 16 at dawn, Ransom's Confederate division opened an attack on Butler's right flank, routing many units. Subsequent attacks lost direction in the fog, but the Federals were disorganized and demoralized. After severe fighting, Butler extricated himself from battle, withdrawing again to his Bermuda Hundred Line. This battle stopped Butler's offensive against Richmond.
Fought over five days spanning May 12 through May 16, 1864, this engagement unfolded in Chesterfield County, Virginia, as part of the Bermuda Hundred Campaign during the American Civil War. Historians and sources have also known it under the names Drewry's Bluff and Fort Darling. The creek at the center of the fighting took its name from Charles Proctor, a farmer who had lived on and worked the land bordering most of the waterway.
After being turned back at Swift Creek and Fort Clifton on May 9, Union Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler pulled his forces back within the entrenchments at Bermuda Hundred. To oppose Butler's 30,000 troops, the Confederates assembled an army of 18,000 under Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard. Butler pushed north on May 12 toward the Confederate position at Drewry's Bluff, yet he settled into a defensive stance once gunboat support failed to materialize for his assault. The following day, a Federal column smashed into the right flank of the Confederate line near the Wooldridge House, seizing a stretch of fortified works. Rather than pressing this advantage, Butler held back, which allowed Beauregard the opportunity to gather his scattered forces. At daybreak on May 16, Maj. Gen. Robert Ransom's division launched a Confederate assault against Butler's right flank, sending numerous units into retreat. Thick fog caused the momentum of further Confederate strikes to falter, though the Union troops had already fallen into disarray and lost their fighting spirit. Following intense combat, Butler pulled his army out of the engagement entirely, retreating once more behind his Bermuda Hundred Line.
The clash produced roughly 6,600 casualties on both sides combined. Butler's drive toward Richmond came to a halt as a result of this engagement. Today the ground where the fighting occurred lies within the Richmond National Battlefield Park.
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