Bermuda Hundred Campaign

• General P.G.T. BeauregardSwift Creek, Chester Station, Proctor's Creek, Ware Bottom Church
• Brigadier General Johnson HagoodPort Walthall Junction

• Major General Benjamin ButlerPort Walthall Junction, Swift Creek, Chester Station, Proctor's Creek, Ware Bottom Church

During May 1864, a string of engagements unfolded near the Virginia town of Bermuda Hundred, just outside Richmond, forming what became known as the Bermuda Hundred campaign of the American Civil War. Union forces under Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler, leading the Army of the James, pushed toward Richmond from the eastern approach, only to be halted by Confederate troops commanded by Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard.

Background

When Grant left the Western Theater in March 1864, he arrived with a new rank, lieutenant general, and authority over every Union army. His plan called for simultaneous pressure on the Confederacy from several directions at once: he, Meade, and Butler would move against Lee outside Richmond, Sigel would push through the Shenandoah Valley, Sherman would drive into Georgia to defeat Johnston and seize Atlanta, Crook and Averell would target railroad supply lines in West Virginia, and Banks would move on Mobile, Alabama. Never before had the Union coordinated offensives across so many theaters at the same time.

While Grant and Meade engaged Lee's Army of Northern Virginia head-on during the Overland Campaign, Butler received a different assignment. He was to ferry his 33,000 troops up the James River to the Virginia Peninsula and push northwest toward Richmond. Rather than seize the capital outright, his real aim was severing the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad, a vital Confederate supply route, thereby compelling Lee to divert reinforcements and stretch his defenses thinner against Grant and Meade.

Butler belonged to the class of "political generals," men whose commissions came from backing Lincoln politically rather than from battlefield talent, and his record showed far more missteps than triumphs. To shore up his shortcomings, Grant paired him with two capable subordinates, Quincy A. Gillmore leading the X Corps and William F. "Baldy" Smith at the head of the XVIII Corps. Neither, however, showed enough initiative to offset their commander's inexperience.

The operation took its name from Bermuda Hundred, a small fishing village situated where the Appomattox and James rivers meet. Positioned southeast of Richmond and northeast of Petersburg, the village sat downstream on the James from Drewry's Bluff, the fortified point marking the farthest safe advance for Union gunboats.

On May 5, the very day fighting erupted between Grant and Lee at the Wilderness, Butler's Army of the James came ashore from naval transports at Bermuda Hundred. Additional units landed at City Point, positioned to menace Petersburg. Initially, Butler pressed forward with some energy. Facing him stood roughly 18,000 Confederate troops under Beauregard, drawn from the Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia; many were hastily assembled from young boys and old men around Richmond and Petersburg, forces that should have posed little threat to Butler's army. Command of the defenders near Petersburg fell to Beauregard's subordinate, George Pickett, the same officer remembered for Pickett's Charge.

Battles

The Bermuda Hundred campaign encompassed a series of engagements, including the following:

Port Walthall Junction (May 6-7, 1864)

On the sixth of May, Confederate troops under Brig. Gen. Johnson Hagood managed to repel the first Federal attempts to seize Port Walthall Junction, a spot whose control meant control of the rail line running through it. That success proved short-lived, however, for the following day a Northern division pushed both Hagood's men and Bushrod Johnson's brigade away from the depot entirely, severing the railroad in the process. Facing this setback, the Confederates pulled back to positions behind Swift Run Creek, where they held their ground while waiting for additional troops to arrive. In the aftermath, Confederate soldiers took the rails leading toward the port and melted them down so the metal could be recast into cannons.

Swift Creek (May 9)

When Butler pushed his troops toward Petersburg, Johnson's division intercepted them at Swift Creek. Confederate forces launched an attack too soon near Arrowfield Church, and it collapsed under heavy losses, yet the Federals failed to capitalize on this setback. Rather than pressing his advantage against the defenders, Butler settled for ripping up sections of railroad track once the skirmishing subsided.

Alongside this movement toward Swift Creek, a squadron of five Union gunboats made its way up the Appomattox River, aiming to shell Fort Clifton. Meanwhile, Brig. Gen. Edward W. Hincks led his division of U.S. Colored Troops on a slow, difficult march through swampy terrain, approaching the fort by land. The naval assault fizzled quickly as the gunboats withdrew under fire, and the ground assault never materialized, called off before it could begin in earnest.

Aftermath

In the end, Butler's campaign accomplished little. He found himself trapped at Bermuda Hundred, unable to advance in any direction. His presence had briefly pulled Confederate attention away from other fronts, yet the enemy's success at Proctor's Creek and Ware Bottom Church allowed Beauregard to send substantial reinforcements to Lee, arriving just in time for the clash at Cold Harbor.

Grant himself recalled this situation in his Personal Memoirs, recounting a discussion with his Chief Engineer about Butler's circumstances. The engineer explained that Butler held ground between the James and Appomattox rivers that was naturally strong, a spot where even a smaller force could defend indefinitely against a larger one, though it offered no chance for offensive action. Grant asked why Butler couldn't simply push out from his position and cut across the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad toward the rear and southern approach to Richmond. The answer was that this was impossible, since the Confederates held a line across the same stretch of land that mirrored Butler's own. To illustrate, the engineer compared the terrain to a bottle: Butler's entrenchments across the neck formed the cork, while the enemy had constructed an equally formidable line directly opposite, sealing him in. Butler could not be dislodged, but as Barnard put it, the Confederates had corked the bottle, and only a modest force was needed to keep that cork wedged in place.

Eventually, Butler's men were redirected to serve in the Siege of Petersburg. Union soldiers, meanwhile, continued to hold Bermuda Hundred as a garrison for the entire duration of the siege.