Battle of Meadow Bridge

The Battle of Meadow Bridge was an engagement on May 12, 1864, in Henrico County, Virginia, during Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign of the American Civil War. Following their victory at the Battle of Yellow Tavern on May 11, Union cavalry under Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan advanced in the direction of the Confederate capital of Richmond. Caught in the narrow area between the fortifications of Richmond and the rain-swollen Chickahominy River, the Union troopers were subjected to fire from the artillery of Confederate Maj. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee. Michigan cavalry under Brig. Gen. George A. Custer forced a crossing of a damaged railroad bridge, which was quickly rebuilt by engineers, allowing the troopers to escape to safety and continue their raid.

On May 11, 1864, Sheridan and his Union cavalry force, on the second day of a daring raid against Richmond, defeated Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart at the Battle of Yellow Tavern, mortally wounding the storied Confederate cavalier. Sheridan led his troops southward towards Richmond, carefully feeling his way through the abandoned outer defensive works. As darkness fell, a severe thunderstorm drenched the column, but Sheridan kept up his movement down the Brook Pike, not realizing that he was boxing himself into a potential trap. Confederates had left torpedoes in the road—many exploded during the passage, killing several horses but not delaying the column further. As dawn broke and the storm subsided, Sheridan found himself only two and half miles from his objective. However, to his dismay, the intermediate defenses in his front swarmed with enemy troops. His left flank was against the swollen Chickahominy, and Confederate cavalry threatened his rear, hoping to capture the Union force.

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