Battle of Totopotomoy Creek The Battle of Totopotomoy Creek , also called the Battle of Bethesda Church , Crumps Creek , Shady Grove Road , and Hanovertown , was a battle fought in Hanover County , Virginia in May 28 – 30 , 1864 , as part of Union Lt . Gen . Ulysses Grant ' s Overland Campaign against Confederate Gen . Robert E . Lee ' s Army of Northern Virginia . As Grant continued his attempts to maneuver around Lee ' s right flank and lure him into a general battle in the open , Lee saw an opportunity to attack the advancing V Corps , under Maj . Gen . Gouverneur K . Warren with the Second Corps of Lt . Gen . Jubal Early . Early ' s divisions under Maj . Gens . Robert E . Rodes and Stephen Dodson Ramseur drove the Union troops back to Shady Grove Road , but Ramseur ' s advance was stopped by a fierce stand of infantry and artillery fire . Grant ordered his other corps commanders to conduct a supporting attack along the entire Confederate line , which was entrenched behind Totopotomoy Creek , but only the II Corps of Maj . Gen . Winfield S . Hancock crossed the stream ; they were quickly repulsed . After the inconclusive battle , the Union army resumed its moves to the southeast and the Battle of Cold Harbor . Background . After Grant ' s army escaped from the trap that Lee had set for it at the Battle of North Anna , it began to move again around the right flank of Lee ' s army , in a continuation of the maneuvering that had characterized the campaign throughout May 1864 . It traveled southeast on the north bank of the Pamunkey River , hoping to find the appropriate place to break through Lee ' s lines . On May 27 , Union cavalry established a bridgehead on the south side of the river , near the Hanovertown Ford . As Grant ' s infantry crossed , cavalry divisions from both armies fought to a standstill at the Battle of Haw ' s Shop on May 28 . Lee ' s army was in precarious shape as it stood in entrenchments behind Totopotomoy Creek . Although the cavalry action at Haw ' s Shop had given Lee valuable intelligence that indicated Grant ' s avenue of approach , the Confederates were short on supplies , due to the Union disruption of the Virginia Central Railroad . They were also short on men . Lee requested that General P . G . T . Beauregard send him reinforcements from his 12 , 000 - man army , sitting relatively idle as they bottled up Maj . Gen . Benjamin Butler ' s army at Bermuda Hundred . Beauregard initially refused Lee ' s request , citing the potential threat from Butler . Lee was determined despite this disappointment , and despite the persistence of his recent dysentery at North Anna . He wrote to President Davis , " If General Grant advances tomorrow I will engage him with my present force . " ( On May 30 , appeals to Confederate President Jefferson Davis caused Beauregard to relent and send 7 , 000 men , the division of Maj . Gen . Robert Hoke , to join Lee . ) On May 29 , Grant ' s army advanced southwest to confront Lee . Since most of his cavalry was occupied elsewhere , he decided to use infantry for a reconnaissance in force . The II Corps of Maj . Gen . Winfield S . Hancock followed the Richmond – Hanovertown Road ( also known as Atlee Station Road ) to the creek . Finding that Lee was firmly entrenched on the far bank , Hancock ' s men began digging in . The V Corps , under Maj . Gen . Gouverneur K . Warren , extended the II Corps line to the left , placing Brig . Gen . Charles Griffin ' s division across the creek onto Shady Grove Road . Maj . Gen . Horatio G . Wright ' s VI Corps was sent northwest from Hanovertown toward Hanover Court House , led by Brig . Gen . David A . Russell ' s division . Maj . Gen . Ambrose Burnside ' s IX Corps was in reserve near Haw ' s Shop and Maj . Gen . Philip Sheridan ' s Cavalry Corps was far to the Union left , near Old Church . The Confederate line , from left to right , consisted of the corps of Lt . Gen . A . P . Hill , the independent division of Maj . Gen . John C . Breckinridge , just returned from the Shenandoah Valley , and the corps of Maj . Gen . Richard H . Anderson and Lt . Gen . Jubal A . Early . No action beyond minor skirmishing occurred during the day . The battle would be fought along Totopotomoy Creek , near the 1862 battlefield of Gaines ' Mill , at Hanover , and at Bethesda Church , north of Gaines ' Mill and Old Cold Harbor . Battle . Grant began a general advance on May 30 . Wright ' s corps was to move south against A . P . Hill on the Confederate left , while Hancock attacked across the creek against Breckinridge in the center , and Warren moved west toward Early along Shady Grove Road . Wright ' s advance became bogged down in the swampy land near Crump ' s Creek , delaying his VI Corps until late in the day . Hancock ' s skirmishers captured some of Breckinridge ' s rifle pits , but made little progress against the main Confederate line . Maj . Gen . George G . Meade ( who commanded the Army of the Potomac under the supervision of Grant ) ordered Burnside ' s reserve corps to assist Hancock , but they arrived too late in the day to have an effect on the battle . On the Union left , Warren moved the rest of his V Corps across the creek and deployed on Shady Grove Road . They began probing west along the road , Griffin leading , followed by the divisions of Maj . Gen . Samuel W . Crawford and Brig . Gen . Lysander Cutler . Lee interpreted these movements as a continuation of Grant ' s campaign strategy to move around the Confederate right flank and toward the southeast . He ordered Early ' s corps , which was entrenched across Warren ' s path , to attack the V corps with the assistance of Anderson ' s corps . Early planned to send the division of Maj . Gen . Robert E . Rodes on a flanking march along Old Church Road , turning north at Bethesda Church , and follow paths that his cavalry had precut through the underbrush to smash into Warren ' s rear areas . As the V corps moved forward slowly , Warren became concerned about the safety of his left flank . He directed Crawford ' s division to move south along a farm track to Old Church Road , where they erected simple breastworks . Crawford sent forward the brigade of Col . Martin D . Hardin , men of the Pennsylvania Reserves whose enlistments were due to expire that same day ; one of his regiments , the 13th Pennsylvania Reserves , was already eligible for discharge . To their right were two large but inexperienced regiments under Col . J . Howard Kitching . Rodes ' s men marched directly into Hardin ' s brigade at about noon and routed them . The retreat to behind Beaver Dam Creek was contagious and Crawford ' s entire division formation collapsed , exposing the V Corps ' left flank . Unfortunately for the Confederates , Rodes lost control of his men , who ran beyond their objectives and descended into confusion . Rodes hesitated to continue with Early ' s plan , which called for him to push north into the rear area of Warren ' s corps . Much of Early ' s corps was still in march column . Also , Anderson ' s corps , which was supposed to support Early , was delayed in arriving . Warren began shifting his corps to face south toward Early and Crawford reformed at the farm lane . Griffin ' s division moved in to support him and the V Corps artillery , under Col . Charles S . Wainwright , arrived and set up several batteries north of Shady Grove Road , on Crawford ' s left . Griffin ' s division dug in on Crawford ' s right . Maj . Gen . Stephen Dodson Ramseur of Early ' s corps , newly promoted to division command , recklessly charged the Union artillery at 6 : 30 p . m . The assault was poorly conceived in many dimensions , and Early gave permission only reluctantly . Gordon ' s division was still deploying and could not support the attack . Rodes ' s men were too occupied with protecting the Confederate right to assist . Ramseur ' s brigade under Brig . Gen . Thomas F . Toon was pinned down by Federal fire on its open left flank . Therefore , the only brigade that actually attacked was Pegram ' s Brigade , commanded by Col . Edward Willis . They advanced heroically through a severe crossfire of rifle and cannon fire and were able to close within 50 yards of the Union position . Willis was mortally wounded and the brigade fell back to its starting point . Ramseur ' s attack was a costly repulse , but the Southern soldiers ' heroism earned the admiration of the Union soldiers who witnessed it . The historian of the 13th Pennsylvania Reserves recorded the event : " The slaughter was so sickening that Major Hartshorne leaped to his feet and called upon his assailants to surrender . Some hundreds did so . Rebels or no rebels , their behavior and bearing during the charge had won the admiration of their captors , who did not hesitate to express it . " A surviving Virginian recalled , " Our line melted away as if by magic . Every brigade , staff and field officer was cut down , ( mostly killed outright ) in an incredibly short time . " Meade ordered a general assault across the line to relieve pressure on Warren , but none of his corps commanders were in positions to comply immediately . However , Warren ' s men had extricated themselves from their predicament without additional assistance . The repulse of Ramseur ' s division discouraged Early and he ordered his corps to withdraw a short distance to the west . He blamed Anderson for not arriving in time to assist , but the soldiers blamed Ramseur , who had ordered the charge without sufficient reconnaissance . While the infantry battled at the creek and the church , the cavalry of the two armies clashed to the east across Matadequin Creek in the Battle of Old Church . Aftermath . Federal casualties were 731 ( 679 killed and wounded , 52 captured ) , versus 1 , 593 ( 263 killed , 961 wounded , 369 missing / captured ) Confederate . Confederate Col . Edward Willis , a popular former member of Stonewall Jackson ' s staff , was mortally wounded during Ramseur ' s ill - considered assault . Confederate Brig . Gen . James B . Terrill was also killed at Bethesda Church . Of more concern to Lee than Early ' s failed attack was intelligence he received that reinforcements were heading Grant ' s way . Just as Hoke ' s division was leaving Bermuda Hundred , the 16 , 000 men of Maj . Gen . William F . " Baldy " Smith ' s XVIII Corps were withdrawn from Butler ' s Army of the James at Grant ' s request and they were moving down the James River and up the York to the Pamunkey . If Smith moved due west from White House Landing to Cold Harbor , 3 miles southeast of Bethesda Church and Grant ' s left flank , the extended Federal line would be too far south for the Confederate right to contain it . Lee sent his cavalry under Maj . Gen . Fitzhugh Lee to secure the crossroads at Cold Harbor . On May 31 Hancock ' s II Corps again crossed Totopotomoy Creek , but found that the Confederate defense line stood well behind the actual creek bed . Grant realized that the strength of the Confederate position meant another stalemate was at hand . He began shifting his army southward toward Cold Harbor on the night of May 31 . Battlefield preservation . Richmond National Battlefield Park owns and maintains acres from the Shelton House to the banks of Totopotomoy Creek , the area in which the II Corps attacked on May 30 and May 31 . The site opened to the public on September 10 , 2011 . The Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities owns with extensive earthworks around Bethesda Church .