Beefsteak Raid

The Beefsteak Raid was a Confederate cavalry raid that took place in September 1864 as part of the Siege of Petersburg during the American Civil War. Confederate Maj. Gen. Wade Hampton led a force of 3,000 troopers of the Confederate States Army on what was to become a 100-mile ride to acquire cattle that were intended for consumption by the Union Army, which was laying a combined siege to the cities of Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia.

Always lacking in supplies, the Confederate forces that were defending the capital of Richmond were beginning to run out of food. A report by General Robert E. Lee on August 22, 1864, stated that corn to feed the Southern soldiers was exhausted. A scout, Sergeant George D. Shadburne, informed General Hampton on September 5 that there were 3,000 lightly defended cattle behind Union lines, at Edmund Ruffin's plantation on Coggin's Point, 5 miles down the James River from Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's headquarters. Believing the cattle were defended by only 120 Union soldiers and 30 civilians , Hampton arranged for 3,000 Confederate troops to follow him. These men included "several certified Texas cattle thieves".

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