"Forgotten Triumph: Union Victories at the Battle of" Topic

…Chaffin's Farm

"Following the disaster at the Crater in the summer of 1864, Lieut. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant planned for another offensive late in the following September. Grant ordered Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler to lead an attack towards Richmond north of the James River with the goals of taking the city and diverting Robert E. Lee's forces away from Petersburg. Grant told Butler, "The prize sought is either Richmond or Petersburg, or a position which will secure the fall of the latter." Butler's ensuing two-pronged offensive would result in the Battle of Chaffin's Farm, also referred to as the Battle of New Market Heights, on September 29 and 30. Although not discussed much today, historian Douglas Crenshaw writes that in the victories at Chaffin's Farm "the Union came closer to capturing Richmond than at any other time during the war," potentially saving thousands of lives. Yet, the site of the battle remains, as described by National Park Service historian Mike Gorman, "one of the most important unpreserved battlefields around the Richmond area." Despite United States Colored Troops (USCT) soldiers receiving fourteen of the twenty-five Medals of Honor that black troops earned during the entire Civil War at Chaffin's Farm, their bravery and heroism is likewise not well known…"

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Armand

This is covered in significant detail along with the corresponding campaign south of the James in RICHMOND REDEEMED.

Chris

Thanks

Armand