Staunton River Bridge was a Civil War engagement fought in Virginia, 1864. It was a Confederate victory.
On June 22, the cavalry divisions of Brig. Gen. James Wilson and Brig. Gen. August Kautz were dispatched from the Petersburg lines to disrupt Confederate rail communications. Riding via Dinwiddie Court House, the raiders cut the South Side Railroad near Ford's Station that evening, destroying tracks, railroad buildings, and two supply trains. On June 23, Wilson proceeded to the junction of the Richmond & Danville Railroad at Burke Station, where he encountered elements of William H.F. Lee's cavalry between Nottoway Court House and Blacks and Whites (modern-day Blackstone). Wilson followed Kautz along the South Side Railroad, destroying about thirty miles of track as he advanced. On June 24, while Kautz remained skirmishing around Burkeville, Wilson crossed over to Meherrin Station on the Richmond & Danville and began destroying track. On June 25, Wilson and Kautz continued tearing up track south to the Staunton River Bridge, where they were delayed by Home Guards, who prevented destruction of the bridge. Lee's cavalry division closed on the Federals from the northeast, forcing them to abandon their attempts to capture and destroy the bridge. By this time, the raiders were nearly 100 miles from Union lines.
On June 25, 1864, Union and Confederate troops clashed near the Staunton River Bridge as part of the Wilson-Kautz Raid during the American Civil War. Fighting unfolded on both sides of the Staunton River, spanning Halifax and Charlotte counties, Virginia.
The span crossing the River Staunton stretched from south-southwest to north-northeast, while the waterway itself flowed northwest toward the southeast. Along this crossing ran the Richmond and Danville Railroad, a critical lifeline sustaining the besieged Army of Northern Virginia. Captain Benjamin L. Farinholt held the crossing with 296 Confederate reservists under his command. On June 23, he received word that Union cavalry was closing in on his position, and in response he sent riders to Halifax, Charlotte, and Mecklenburg seeking additional manpower. By the morning the fighting began, 642 fresh troops had answered the call, 150 of them regulars and the balance volunteers.
Aware that enemy scouts would be watching, Farinholt had a train shuttle back and forth continuously between his post and a depot to the south, creating the appearance of an endless stream of reinforcements arriving. This deception gained further weight from Nancy Mcphail, whose husband owned the Mulberry Hill plantation. She cared for wounded Union soldiers during the fight even as she told their comrades that as many as 10,000 Confederates stood ready at the crossing. The true number was far smaller, just 938 men.
Beyond this garrison, Farinholt controlled two earthen fortifications on the river's southern bank. His six cannons were split between them, four positioned in the works east of the rail line and two to the west. Hidden rifle pits, dug in a network connecting the earthworks to the bridge itself, rounded out his defenses.
By Farinholt's own account, Union troops reached the opposite bank at 3:45 in the afternoon, coming within a mile of his central stronghold. His first shots, however, fell short of their mark. Kautz brought his mounted troops down to face the bridge directly, then pushed forward on both flanks.
Colonel Robert M. West led the assault from the west side of the tracks
Because the bridge over the Staunton River held, the Richmond & Danville rail line kept running, giving Confederate troops trapped at Petersburg a vital artery of supply. That victory proved only temporary relief, though: by April 1865, with his lines of supply finally severed, Lee had no choice but to give up Petersburg.
Today a portion of the ground where the fighting unfolded survives within Staunton River Battlefield State Park, and the earthworks the Confederates built for their defense have earned a place on the National Register of Historic Places.
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