"The Bristoe Station Campaign" Topic

"At the beginning of October 1863, the principle Union and Confederate armies in Virginia — the Army of the Potomac, commanded by Major General George Gordon Meade, and the Army of Northern Virginia, led by General Robert E. Lee — found themselves positioned almost exactly where they had been at the start of the Gettysburg campaign. Both had quickly recovered from the rigors of their efforts in Pennsylvania and had regained pre-battle strength by the end of August. But in September, Lee and Meade had been compelled to ship substantial portions of their armies to the Western Theater to take part in the battles around Chattanooga, Tennessee. The Confederates had dispatched the entire First Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by Lieutenant General James Longstreet, whereas the Federals had sent the XI and XII Corps to Tennessee. These detachments left Lee with 55,000 men to oppose Meade's 80,000.

The Union army was arrayed around Culpeper Courthouse, in the middle of a giant sideways riverine "V" which opened to the west from the point where the Rappahannock and Rapidan watercourses meet at the southeastern tip of Culpeper County. The Rappahannock River formed the upper arm of the "V", which stretched out in a northeasterly direction. The generally straight east-west line of the Rapidan River formed the other arm of the "V" to its south. Slicing through the middle of this geographic feature was the single-track Orange & Alexandria Railroad which ran northeast from Culpeper toward Washington, D.C. and southeast from Culpeper toward the upper end of the Shenandoah Valley. The O&A was Meade's sole line of supply to the North…"

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Armand

Interesting article. They mention that the campaign avoided a big battle, but it had a number of smaller battles, and encounters that could be the basis of "What if" battles. Wish it had included a map, though.

Grelber

Glad you enjoyed it…

Armand

Quite a few cavalry battles. Gottfried has one of his nice map books on the subject, The Maps of the Bristoe Station and Mine Run Campaigns.

Tom

Thanks

Armand