A Rich Prize

Union troops (foreground) withdraw ahead of pursuing Confederates

Sketch by James E. Taylor, an artist for Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, 1864

7:00 a.m.—Belle Grove was Union headquarters, and thus was surrounded by hundreds of supply wagons, ambulances, and tents. As the Confederate advance neared the plantation manor house there was a scramble to evacuate them to safety. Most escaped capture. The fighting around Belle Grove was intense as every effort was made to slow the Confederate advance and bring up the 6th Corps, which up to this point had not been engaged. But as the 6th Corps advanced, fleeing men of the 19th Corps, along with dense fog, disrupted their battle lines.

Intense fighting swirled around the manor house at Belle Grove

Sketch by James E. Taylor, an artist for Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, 1864