Battle of Haw ' s Shop The Battle of Haw ' s Shop or Enon Church was fought on May 28 , 1864 , in Hanover County , Virginia , as part of Union Lt . Gen . Ulysses S . Grant ' s Overland Campaign against Confederate Gen . Robert E . Lee ' s Army of Northern Virginia during the American Civil War . Grant abandoned the stalemate following the Battle of North Anna ( May 23 – 26 ) by once again swinging widely around Lee ' s right flank , using the Pamunkey River to screen his movements to the southwest . Lee ' s army moved directly south and took up positions on the southern bank of Totopotomoy Creek . The Confederate general sent a cavalry force under Maj . Gen . Wade Hampton to collect intelligence about Grant ' s next moves . On May 28 , Hampton ' s troopers encountered Union cavalry under Brig . Gen . David McM . Gregg . Fighting predominately dismounted and utilizing earthworks for protection , neither side achieved an advantage . Gregg was reinforced by two brigades of Brig . Gen . Alfred T . A . Torbert ' s division , and the brigade under Brig . Gen . George A . Custer launched a spirited attack just as Hampton was ordering his men to withdraw . The seven - hour battle was inconclusive , but it was the second significant cavalry engagement of the Overland Campaign and one of the bloodiest of the war . Both sides claimed victory . Union Cavalry Corps commander Maj . Gen . Philip Sheridan bragged that his men had driven Hampton from the field and demonstrated the superiority of the Union cavalry . But Hampton had held up the Union cavalry for seven hours , prevented it from achieving its reconnaissance objectives , and had provided valuable intelligence to General Lee about disposition of Grant ' s army . Background . Following the Battle of North Anna , Grant and Lee were again stalemated in their opposing earthworks . As he had done twice before in the campaign — after the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House — Grant planned to swing around Lee ' s right flank , getting closer to the Confederate capital of Richmond , hoping to lure Lee into a battle in the open . He chose to move directly east and cross the Pamunkey River . If he had moved directly south , he would have been forced to cross three rivers , the Little River , the New Found , and the South Anna , minor obstacles that Lee would have to navigate instead . On the eastern side of the Pamunkey , he was effectively screened from the Confederates and he could also conveniently receive supplies from the newly formed base at White House Landing on the Pamunkey . Before he could move , however , Grant was faced with the problem of disengaging from Lee ' s army . Not only were the armies closely situated , Grant ' s had to withdraw initially north over the North Anna , a situation in which it would be very vulnerable to attack . Grant decided on a series of deceptive measures to disguise his intentions . On May 26 , he sent a cavalry division under Brig . Gen . James H . Wilson to Little River , probing the western end of the Confederate line , while at the same time men from the cavalry divisions of Brig . Gens . Alfred T . A . Torbert and David McM . Gregg were sent to the Little Page Bridge and Taylor ' s Ford on the Pamunkey , 10 miles upriver from Grant ' s intended crossing points . Lee , who was still in his tent suffering from the diarrhea that had incapacitated him during the North Anna battle , was fooled by Grant ' s actions and assumed that the Union general would be moving west for the first time in the campaign . The Union infantry withdrew stealthily after dark on May 26 and by the morning of May 27 all were safely north of the North Anna . The IX Corps under Maj . Gen . Ambrose Burnside and the II Corps under Maj . Gen . Winfield S . Hancock stayed in place to guard the river crossings while the V Corps under Maj . Gen . Gouverneur K . Warren and the VI Corps under Maj . Gen . Horatio G . Wright , led by Maj . Gen . Philip Sheridan ' s cavalry , began their march toward crossings near Hanovertown , about 34 miles to the southeast . Once Lee recognized that his opponent had departed , he moved his army swiftly in response . His three corps under Maj . Gen . Richard H . Anderson and Lt . Gens . Richard S . Ewell and A . P . Hill marched south along the Richmond , Fredericksburg , and Potomac Railroad , and then overland , heading for Atlee ' s Station on the Virginia Central Railroad , a point only 9 miles north of Richmond . There , his men would be well - positioned behind a stream known as Totopotomoy Creek to defend against Grant if he moved against the railroads or Richmond . He also sent a small brigade of North Carolina cavalry down the southern bank of the Pamunkey to scout and harass the Union advance wherever possible . During the march , Lee ' s illness forced him to ride in a carriage . Ewell was also laid up with a similar illness and rode in an ambulance ; his condition was serious enough that he was temporarily replaced in command by Maj . Gen . Jubal Early . On May 27 , Union cavalry established a bridgehead over Dabney ' s Ford on the south side of the Pamunkey River . Brig . Gen . George A . Custer ' s Michigan cavalry brigade scattered the mounted Confederate pickets guarding the ford and an engineer regiment constructed a pontoon bridge . Custer ' s men fought a brisk engagement north of Salem Church against Confederate cavalry under Maj . Gen . Fitzhugh Lee , the 1st Maryland under Col . Bradley T . Johnson and the brigade of North Carolinians under Col . John A . Baker . The Confederates withdrew under the pressure of superior numbers . The rest of Torbert ' s division then crossed the river , followed by Gregg ' s cavalry division and a division of Union infantry . Lee knew that his best defensive position against Grant would be the low ridge on the southern bank of Totopotomoy Creek , but he was not certain of Grant ' s specific plans ; if Grant was not intending to cross the Pamunkey in force at Hanovertown , the Union army could outflank him and head directly to Richmond . Lee ordered cavalry under Maj . Gen . Wade Hampton to make a reconnaissance in force , break through the Union cavalry screen , and find the Union infantry . Opposing forces . Wade Hampton , who was one of the two leading candidates to succeed the late Maj . Gen . J . E . B . Stuart in command of the Cavalry Corps , brought with him his Laurel Brigade , commanded by Brig . Gen . Thomas L . Rosser . The other leading candidate , Maj . Gen . Fitzhugh Lee , accompanied Brig . Gen . Williams C . Wickham ' s brigade . The rest of Hampton ' s task force consisted of a brigade under Brig . Gen . John R . Chambliss and elements of Col . John A . Baker ' s brigade ( both from Maj . Gen . W . H . F . " Rooney " Lee ' s division ) , a new brigade under Brig . Gen . Matthew C . Butler ( the newly formed and inexperienced 4th and 5th South Carolina cavalry regiments , commanded temporarily by Col . B . Huger Rutledge , and the 20th Georgia Battalion under Lt . Col . John M . Millen ) , and several sections of horse artillery . The Union cavalry force headed directly for Hampton ' s was the 2nd Division under Brig . Gen . David McM . Gregg , which consisted of two brigades under Brig . Gen . Henry E . Davies , Jr . , and Col . J . Irvin Gregg ( David ' s cousin ) . Reinforcements would arrive later in the battle from the division of Brig . Gen . Alfred T . A . Torbert : the brigades of Brig . Gens . George A . Custer and Wesley Merritt , and a regiment from the brigade of Col . Thomas C . Devin . Battle . At 8 a . m . on May 28 , Hampton rode off from Atlee ' s Station . As more of Grant ' s infantry crossed the pontoon bridge over the Pamunkey , Gregg led his cavalry division probing west from Hanovertown , searching for Lee , while Torbert ' s division began to picket along Crump ' s Creek in the direction of Hanover Court House . Three miles west of Hanovertown , and a mile beyond a large blacksmith shop called Haw ' s Shop , Gregg ' s troopers ran into Hampton at Enon Church , finding the Confederate cavalrymen dismounted in a wooded area , hurriedly erecting breastworks made of logs and rails , and well covered by artillery . Davies deployed pickets from the 10th New York Cavalry to Hampton ' s front , but the 2nd Virginia Cavalry , Hampton ' s leading element , drove the picket line back . The Confederates deployed in line with Wickham ' s four Virginia regiments deployed in the woods behind Enon Church , with Rosser ' s men and the horse artillery to their left . They dug shallow rifle pits and faced them with log and fence - rail breastworks . Because of a swampy tributary of Crump Creek to the north and Mill Creek to the south , it was impossible to turn the position . Hampton viewed the outnumbered Union force and reportedly exclaimed , " We ' ve got the Yankees where we want them now . " Before Hampton could attack , Irvin Gregg ' s brigade arrived and moved to the right of Davies ' s men , extending his flank . Two batteries of Union horse artillery set up just west of the Haw house , " Oak Grove " . A Confederate mounted charge , followed by dismounted troopers , was repulsed by the 1st Pennsylvania Cavalry , but the Pennsylvanians were soon flanked on both sides . Dismounted men from the 1st New Jersey came to their aid and the lines were stabilized . Hampton fed in the green troops of the 4th South Carolina on his right and they met Davies ' s next charge with a wall of fire . These Confederates carried Enfield rifles , which had firing ranges superior to the carbine s carried by the Federal cavalry , killing or wounding 256 men . As Davies rode into the fighting , his saber was cut in half by a Minié ball and his horse ' s tail was shot off . Union return fire was heavy as well , because the troopers were armed with seven - shot Spencer repeating carbines . One Pennsylvania trooper estimated that the 200 men in his unit fired 18 , 000 rounds . Their carbines got so hot that from time to time the men had to pause to let them cool . As Davies ' s first attack ground to a halt , and the attack of Irvin Gregg ' s brigade failed to dislodge the Confederates , David Gregg sent for reinforcements from Sheridan , who released two brigades from Torbert ' s division . Torbert ' s reserve brigade under Brig . Gen . Wesley Merritt extended Gregg ' s line to the right , thwarting a flanking maneuver attempted by Hampton with Chambliss ' s newly arrived brigade . There was plenty of infantry nearby that could have been called for reinforcements , with Maj . Gen . Winfield S . Hancock ' s II Corps dug in about one mile to the north . There is no documentary evidence that Sheridan requested such assistance , although he claimed years later in his memoirs that he asked for two brigades from Army of the Potomac commander Maj . Gen . George G . Meade , who supposedly refused the request , claiming that Hancock ' s men were too " weary . " Torbert ' s other brigade , under Brig . Gen . George A . Custer , arrived about 4 p . m . Custer ' s men dismounted and deployed in a long , double - ranked line of battle , as if they were infantrymen . However , Custer inspired his men by staying mounted as he led them forward , waving his hat in full view of the enemy , while his brigade band played " Yankee Doodle " . Receiving heavy rifle and artillery fire , 41 of the Union cavalrymen fell in the attack , as did Custer ' s horse — the seventh time the flamboyant general lost a horse during the war . Custer later claimed that his brigades lost cause shop was " greater than in any other engagement of the campaign . " Meanwhile , on the northern end of the battle , a Confederate mistakenly identified some dismounted Union cavalrymen as infantry and reported this to Hampton . Concerned that his cavalry command would be isolated and overwhelmed by an infantry attack , Hampton gave the order to begin withdrawing . ( Hampton had also just received intelligence from prisoners on the location of two Union corps that had crossed the Pamunkey , which meant that his reconnaissance mission had been successfully completed . ) The Confederate brigades withdrew from north to south . Once Chambliss , Rosser , and Wickham had departed , Rutledge and the 20th Georgia Battalion were uncovered . Custer took advantage of the situation by charging forward , overrunning the Georgians , killing their commander , Lt . Col . John M . Millen , and capturing many of his men . Davies ' s brigade joined the attack and the remaining Confederate line fell apart into a rout , but by nightfall Hampton ' s cavalry was safely west of Totopotomoy Creek . Aftermath . The Battle of Haw ' s Shop lasted for over seven hours and was the bloodiest cavalry battle since Brandy Station in 1863 . It was an unusual battle in comparison to previous cavalry engagements in the Eastern Theater because it was fought predominantly by dismounted cavalry , many of which were protected by earthworks . Union casualties were 256 men in Gregg ' s division and another 41 from Custer ' s brigade , including Private John Huff , the cavalryman from the 5th Michigan who had fatally shot Maj . Gen . J . E . B . Stuart at Yellow Tavern . Confederate losses were never tabulated officially , but Union reports claimed they buried 187 enemy bodies after the battle , recovered 40 to 50 wounded men , and captured 80 South Carolinians . Gregg paid tribute to the Confederates " who resisted with courage and desperation unsurpassed . " He later wrote that the battle " has always been regarded by the Second Division as one of its severest . " Both sides claimed victory . Sheridan bragged that his men had driven Hampton from the field and had once again demonstrated their superiority over the Confederate cavalry . He has been criticized by historians such as Gordon Rhea for missing an opportunity to destroy Hampton ' s command while it was isolated and vulnerable in front of the Totopotomoy , something that could have been accomplished if Sheridan had devoted his entire Cavalry Corps to the task . And rather than attempting to maneuver on several of the roads that led to Hampton ' s rear , Sheridan ' s command expended their efforts on costly frontal assaults . Hampton ' s claim of victory was also credible . He had prevented Sheridan from learning the disposition of Lee ' s army while delaying the Union advance for seven hours . And General Lee received the valuable intelligence he had sought . He now knew that Grant had crossed the Pamunkey in force , although he was still unclear on the next steps that Grant might take and therefore waited for further developments . The two armies would fight in this general vicinity on May 30 in the Battle of Bethesda Church .