Saint Mary's Church

On June 24, 1864, mounted forces clashed at Saint Mary's Church, a fight Southerners knew as Samaria Church or Nance's Shop, in an engagement that formed part of the broader cavalry operations tied to Grant's Overland Campaign against Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.

Sheridan's horsemen from the Army of the Potomac were making their way back after failing to wreck the Virginia Central Railroad during the clash at Trevilian Station. Along the way they picked up wagons loaded with supplies from the depot at White House, which had just been abandoned, and pushed on toward the James River. Hampton's Confederate troopers caught up with this column on the 24th, striking Gregg's division as it moved near St. Mary's Church. With five brigades against Gregg's two, the Confederates held a clear numerical edge and managed to push the Union defenders out of their breastworks. Even so, Gregg's men held the line long enough to shield the wagon train, allowing it to reach the James without interference.

Background

After Trevilian Station wrapped up on June 11 and 12, 1864, Sheridan's horsemen began retracing their steps on June 13, having failed to accomplish their mission against the Virginia Central Railroad. Their route took them across the North Anna at Carpenter's Ford, then onto the Catharpin Road toward Spotsylvania Court House. By June 16 the column had moved through Bowling Green, and following the Mattaponi's northern bank, it reached King and Queen Court House on June 18.

During this raid, Grant's forces had started shifting from Cold Harbor toward the James River to strike at Petersburg. As part of that effort, Grant directed that his main supply base shift from White House on the Pamunkey to City Point on the James. When Sheridan discovered the White House depot remained intact, he dispatched his wounded soldiers, captured prisoners, and the African-Americans traveling with his column to White House under guard on June 19, before turning back toward Dunkirk to find a crossing point on the Mattaponi.

Meanwhile, Hampton's Confederate horsemen had departed Trevilian Station, trailing Sheridan along nearby southern routes. His command included Butler's and Rosser's brigades, both under his own division, Wickham's brigade drawn from Fitzhugh Lee's division, and Chambliss's brigade from W.H.F. "Rooney" Lee's division. Reinforcing this group was a freshly organized brigade led by Gary.

Fitz Lee attempted a strike against the Union depot at White House on June 20, but the arrival of Sheridan's troops spared the garrison stationed there. The following day, Sheridan pushed across the Pamunkey, broke through Confederate lines at St. Peter's Church, and guided some 900 wagons in the direction of the James. His forces crossed the Chickahominy on June 22 and 23, skirting fierce resistance south of Jones's Bridge on the latter date. Hampton, unable to cut Sheridan off before this point, crossed the Chickahominy farther upstream and pressed southward in pursuit.

Sheridan then made for Deep Bottom, aiming to join Union infantry positioned at Bermuda Hundred. Near Westover Church, Torbert's division found its advance blocked by Confederate opposition. On June 24, Gregg's division took up a protective post close to Samaria Church along the Charles City road, while Sheridan moved Torbert's division and the wagon train across the James at Douthat's Landing.

Battle

On June 24, wagons rolled toward Harrison's Landing on the James while Torbert's division kept escorting them and Gregg's division shadowed the movement along a parallel path, shielding the right flank. Near Charles City Court House, Torbert ran into Brig. Gen. Lunsford L. Lomax's brigade and pushed it back. Around 8 a.m., the brigade of Brig. Gen. Henry E. Davies, Jr., part of Gregg's command, reached the area around Samaria Church, a spot where three roads met, and ran across Confederate pickets stationed there. The 2nd Pennsylvania Cavalry charged and forced these pickets northward, after which Davies's men dug in west of the crossroads. Davies held the right end of the line while Col. J. Irvin Gregg, a cousin of the general, anchored the left.

As Hampton's men closed in, they began digging entrenchments of their own while readying a dismounted assault. Between 3 and 4 p.m., five brigades under Hampton struck the two brigades Gregg had in place. The Union horsemen could not withstand the weight of the assault and started falling back along the road toward Charles City Court House, arriving there by roughly 8 p.m., with skirmishing continuing until 10 p.m. A Confederate soldier later described the fight, noting that the enemy held a strong position and fought hard for a time, but once his side pressed in, the opposing troops broke and ran. At that point the mounted cavalry was sent forward in a charge that chased the fleeing men for three miles, seizing a good number of prisoners while the dead and wounded were left behind for the victors to handle.

Aftermath

Aside from those captured, Gregg's division came through the fight largely in one piece. Col. Pennock Huey, commanding the 8th Pennsylvania Cavalry, was among those taken prisoner. Union losses numbered near 350, while the Confederates suffered roughly 250. Blocked by Hampton's cavalry, Sheridan pulled back on June 25, routing his force through Charles City Court House toward Douthat's Landing, where his wagon trains crossed the James by flatboat. The cavalry itself made the crossing on the 27th and 28th of June. Confederate horsemen tried to maneuver into position for a fresh assault, but exhaustion and the sheer strength of the Union numbers made this impossible. Lee ordered Hampton to march to Petersburg without delay to counter the Wilson-Kautz Raid, which threatened railroads south of that city. Hampton's men made their own crossing of the James at Chaffin's Bluff via pontoon bridge, also on June 27 and 28.

The outcome of Sheridan's expedition to Trevilian Station and back was far from clear cut. Though he managed to pull Confederate attention away from Grant's crossing of the James, he failed in his primary aim of severing the Virginia Central Railroad, a vital artery supplying both Richmond and Lee's forces. His command also absorbed steep losses, especially among its officers, and many horses were lost either to combat or to exhaustion from the heat. Despite this, Sheridan insisted the campaign had been a clear triumph. Writing in his official account of 1866, he declared that the outcome had been one of unbroken success, amounting almost to the destruction of the rebel cavalry, and that his men had fought only on the offensive, always emerging victorious.

Hampton's efforts against Sheridan likewise produced a mixed record, though historians generally judge them more favorably. He managed to shield the railroads and, by extension, protect Richmond itself. His forces won tactical successes on the second day at Trevilian Station and again against Gregg at Samaria Church, yet he never managed to wipe out the Union cavalry or capture its trains. That August, he was placed in command of the Cavalry Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia, a post left vacant since J.E.B. Stuart's death.