Death On the Highway-Part III: The Beefsteak Raid

By September of 1864, the Union forces under LTG Ulysses Grant, the Army of the Potomac commanded by MG George G. Meade and the Army of the James commanded by MG Benjamin Butler, were attacking the Confederate defensive lines protecting the cities of Petersburg and Richmond, respectively, manned by the forces of the Army of Northern Virginia commanded by General Robert E. Lee; both sides were continually building, reinforcing, and expanding its field entrenchments and defensive fortifications, which were many miles in length and depth. In August, south of the Appomattox River, the Army of the Potomac had sidled to its left and captured the important supply line of the Petersburg Railroad, also sometimes known as the Petersburg and Weldon Railroad or just the Weldon Railroad. This left only the Southside Railroad coming from Lynchburg to Petersburg and the makeshift supply line of the Boydton Plank Road from Dinwiddie to Petersburg as the lifelines for food and supplies to the civilians and soldiers of Petersburg. All were suffering from a reduction in rations and, while resisting to their utmost, the outlook seemed bleak. In the first week of September, intelligence was received by Confederate cavalry commander Major General Wade Hampton that over 3,000 head of cattle were being guarded by a small force of Union soldiers at Coggin’s Point on the south bank of the James River, in Prince George’s County, a few miles from the Union supply base at City Point. Quickly verifying this information, making plans for an expedition, obtaining the requisite permission from General Lee, and assembling an adequate force, took a few days. On September 14, 1864, MG Hampton set out with approximately 3,000 cavalrymen, including a few “certified Texas cattle rustlers”, to wrest this much need beef herd out of Union hands and bring it back to the reduced ranks of the Army of Northern Virginia. Leaving from the area of the Boydton Plank Road (Route 1), south of its crossing of Hatcher’s Run, the Confederate raiders took a round-about route to avoid detection: after first going south, the force turned north and crossed the Blackwater River at Cook’s bridge, stealthily approaching Coggin’s Point from an unexpected direction. The daring operation came off almost perfectly at 5 am on September 16, 1864, as Hampton’s operational plan called for three separate attacks on the site. Although the Union force guarding the herd was larger than anticipated and there was some fighting, Hampton and his men went away with more than 2,500 head of cattle, 11 wagons, and 304 Union prisoners, at a cost of 10 killed, 47 wounded, and 4 missing. The jubilant Confederate cavalrymen and their prize reached the Confederate defensive lines near the Boydton Plank Road (Route 1) at 9am on September 17th, with an official count of 2,468 head of cattle. Unfortunately, because of the lack of feed and forage, and the lack of the necessary equipment and supplies to salt and store the beef, the Confederates were forced to immediately slaughter and butcher the herd and to distribute the fresh meat to soldiers and civilians before the meat “spoiled”; most of the herd was placed and butchered in the fields just east of the Boydton Plank Road (Route 1). News of this successful raid was greatly admired by and raised the morale of the southern population and soldiers. Even President Abraham Lincoln called it “the slickest piece of cattle-stealing” of which he had ever heard. However, unfortunately, the success of the raid did not bring about more than a temporary reversal of the reduced state of southern supplies and the food shortage in the soldier ranks; after a short while, the Confederate army went back to its dire food situation. Even Hollywood became fascinated by the account of this “Beefsteak Raid” and produced a highly-fictionalized version of it in 1966, starring William Holden and Richard Widmark; the film was named “Alvarez Kelly”.
In Part IV, I will talk about the fighting near the Boynton Plank Road (Route 1) at the end of September (Battle of Peeble’s Farm) and the end of October, 1864 (Battle of Burgess’ Mills.)