Totopotomoy Creek was a Civil War engagement fought in Virginia, 1864. The outcome was inconclusive.
Operations along Totopotomoy Creek opened with cavalry combats at the Pamunkey River crossing at Dabney's Ferry (Hanovertown) and at Crump's Creek on May 27. During the cavalry fight at Haw's Shop on May 28, Union and Confederate infantry arrived in the vicinity. The Confederates entrenched behind Totopotomoy Creek. On the 29th, the Union II, IX, and V Corps probed Lee's position along the creek, while the VI Corps felt its way toward Hanover Court House. Early on the 30th, the VI Corps turned south to come in on the far right flank of the Union line (II Corps) but bogged down in swampy Crump's Creek without getting into position. The II Corps forced a crossing of Totopotomoy Creek in two places, capturing the first line of Confederate trenches, but the advance was stopped at the main line. The IX Corps maneuvered into position on the left of the II Corps, driving back Confederate pickets on the Shady Grove Road. In the meantime, the V Corps, moving near Bethesda Church on the far left flank of the Union army, was attacked by Early's corps. The Federals were driven back to Shady Grove Road after heavy fighting. Confederate Brig. Gen. George Doles was killed by a sharpshooter near Bethesda Church on June 2.
Following the narrow escape from Lee's ambush at North Anna, Grant's forces resumed their sidling movement around the Confederate right, continuing the pattern of maneuver that had defined the campaign since early May. The Union army moved along the northern bank of the Pamunkey River, seeking a vulnerable spot in Lee's defenses. On May 27, Federal horsemen secured a foothold on the river's southern shore close to Hanovertown Ford. The following day, as infantry columns crossed behind them, mounted units from both sides clashed inconclusively at Haw's Shop, neither gaining a clear edge.
Behind the defenses along Totopotomoy Creek, Lee's forces faced serious difficulties. The fighting at Haw's Shop had at least yielded useful information about the direction of the Federal advance, but the Confederates lacked adequate supplies because Union raiders had torn up the Virginia Central Railroad, and manpower remained scarce as well. Lee asked General P.G.T. Beauregard to release reinforcements from the roughly 12,000 troops he had stationed to contain Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler's force at Bermuda Hundred. Beauregard balked at first, worried about what Butler's army might do if we
On May 30, Grant
The toll on the Union side reached 731 men, with 679 killed or wounded and another 52 taken prisoner. Confederate losses were heavier still, totaling 1,593: 263 dead, 961 wounded, and 369 either missing or captured. Among the Confederate dead was Col. Edward Willis, once a well-liked staff officer under Stonewall Jackson, who suffered a fatal wound during Ramseur's poorly conceived charge. Brig. Gen. James B. Terrill also lost his life in the fighting at Bethesda Church.
Early's repulse troubled Lee less than a separate piece of news reaching him: reinforcements were on their way to bolster Grant. Even as Hoke's division pulled out of Bermuda Hundred, Grant had requested that Maj. Gen. William F. "Baldy" Smith's XVIII Corps, numbering 16,000 men, be pulled from Butler's Army of the James. These troops were now traveling down the James River and then up the York toward the Pamunkey. Should Smith push westward from White House Landing toward Cold Harbor, a spot just three miles southeast of Bethesda Church and near Grant's left flank, the Union line would stretch too far south for Confederate forces on the right to hold it back. In response, Lee dispatched cavalry under Maj. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee to seize control of the Cold Harbor crossroads.
On the 31st of May, Hancock's II Corps made another crossing of Totopotomoy Creek, only to discover that Confederate defenses were positioned well back from the creek itself. Recognizing the futility of attacking such a fortified line, Grant concluded that another deadlock had emerged. That night, he set his army in motion, shifting it southward in the direction of Cold Harbor.
It was clear beyond question that Lee's entire force stood nearby, dug in once more with formidable strength. Grant, for his part, stated plainly that he had no intention of throwing his men against fortified positions.
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