AUGUST 25, 1864:
The
Second Battle of Reams’ Station:
Desperate
to rescue a remnant of the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, Robert E. Lee orders
an all-out attack on the Union line. He virtually empties Petersburg in order
to stage the attack, which is fierce and bloody and messily repulsed by General
George Meade with the loss of 2,747 Union men (over 1000 captured) against only
814 for the Confederacy.
Although the Second Battle of Reams’ Station is a clear
Confederate victory in terms of numbers killed, wounded, and missing, otherwise
it is a dismal failure. The Confederacy loses over 800 of its vaunted
cavalrymen in a time and place it can ill-afford; and the Union, though
battered in the battle, seizes and holds 26 more miles of the track, which it
quickly destroys.
Supplies moving between Richmond and Petersburg now must be
offloaded from the railroad at Stony Creek Depot and must travel via easily
attackable wagon trains into Petersburg.
At least after the Second Battle of The Weldon Railroad on
August 18th there had been a rail spur (including a 30 mile detour) into the
city. Now, only the Southside Railroad remains open.
General George Meade wrote:
These frequent
affairs are gradually thinning . . . the enemy . . . but unfortunately, the
offensive being forced on us, causes us to seek battle on the enemy's terms,
and our losses are accordingly the greatest . . .
Historians still debate a fact that seemingly eluded Meade:
In the attack, Lee left Petersburg barely defended and open to seizure. It is
one of the great What Ifs of the
Civil War to wonder whether General Grant, had he been in command, would have foiled
Lee’s attack by trading the rail line for the city. Grant, however, was ill,
and confined to his tent for the day.
