Second Battle of Deep Bottom The Second Battle of Deep Bottom , also known as Fussell ' s Mill ( particularly in the South ) , New Market Road , Bailey ' s Creek , Charles City Road , or White ' s Tavern was fought August 14 – 20 1864 , at Deep Bottom in Henrico County , Virginia , during the Richmond - Petersburg Campaign ( Siege of Petersburg ) of the American Civil War . During the night of August 13 – 14 , a force under the command of Maj . Gen . Winfield S . Hancock crossed the James River at Deep Bottom to threaten Richmond and attract Confederate forces away from the Petersburg , Virginia , trenches and the Shenandoah Valley . On August 14 , the X Corps closed on New Market Heights while the II Corps extended the Federal line to the right along Bailey ' s Creek . During the night , the X Corps was moved to the right flank of the Union line near Fussell ' s Mill . On August 16 , Union assaults near the mill were initially successful , but Confederate counterattacks drove the Federals back . After days of indecisive skirmishing , the Federals returned to the south side of the James on the night of August 20 . The Confederates achieved their objective of driving back the Union threat , but at a cost of diluting their forces as the Union had hoped . Background . Deep Bottom is the colloquial name for an area of the James River in Henrico County southeast of Richmond , Virginia , at a horseshoe - shaped bend in the river known as Jones Neck . It was so - named because of the depth of the river bottom at that point . It was a convenient crossing point from the Bermuda Hundred area on the south side of the river . Lt . Gen . Ulysses S . Grant began a siege of the city of Petersburg , Virginia , after initial assaults on the Confederate lines , June 15 – 18 , 1864 , failed to break through . While Union cavalry conducted the Wilson - Kautz Raid ( June 22 – July 1 ) in an attempt to cut the railroad lines leading into Petersburg , Grant and his generals planned a renewed assault on the Petersburg fortifications . In the First Battle of Deep Bottom , July 27 – 29 , Grant sent a force under Maj . Gens . Winfield S . Hancock and Philip H . Sheridan on an expedition threatening Richmond and its railroads , intending to attract Confederate troops away from the Petersburg defensive line . The Union infantry and cavalry force was unable to break through the Confederate fortifications at Bailey ' s Creek and Fussell ' s Mill and was withdrawn , but it achieved its desired effect of momentarily reducing Confederate strength at Petersburg . The planned attack on the fortifications went ahead on July 30 , but the resulting Battle of the Crater was an embarrassing Union defeat , a fiasco of mismanaged resources by Grant ' s subordinates at a heavy cost in casualties . On the same day the Union failed at the Crater , Confederate Lt . Gen . Jubal A . Early was burning the town of Chambersburg , Pennsylvania , as he operated out of the Shenandoah Valley , threatening towns in Maryland and Pennsylvania , as well as the District of Columbia . Gen . Robert E . Lee was concerned about actions that Grant might take against Early , and in fact Grant in the first week of August designated Phil Sheridan to command a consolidated Army of the Shenandoah to challenge Early with almost 40 , 000 men . Lee sent the infantry division of Maj . Gen . Joseph B . Kershaw from Lt . Gen . Richard H . Anderson ' s corps and the cavalry division commanded by Maj . Gen . Fitzhugh Lee to Culpeper , Virginia , where they could either provide aid to Early or be recalled to the Richmond - Petersburg front as needed . Grant misinterpreted this movement and assumed that Anderson ' s entire corps had been removed from the vicinity of Richmond , leaving only about 8 , 500 men north of the James River . He determined to try again with an advance toward the Confederate capital . This would either prevent reinforcements from aiding Early or once again dilute the Confederate strength in the defensive lines around Petersburg . Once again , Hancock would be the senior general on the expedition . On August 13 , the X Corps , commanded by Maj . Gen . David B . Birney , Brig . Gen . David McM . Gregg ' s cavalry division , and Hancock ' s II Corps artillery crossed pontoon bridges from Bermuda Hundred to Deep Bottom . Meanwhile , the remainder of the II Corps conducted a ruse to make the Confederates think that Hancock was being sent north to reinforce Sheridan . After a grueling march through oppressive heat to City Point — a march during which a number of the men were felled by heat stroke — they embarked on ships and steamed toward the Chesapeake Bay , many of individual soldiers unaware of their actual destination . A tugboat followed the flotilla and brought new orders , which caused the transport ships to turn around and deposit the II Corps at Deep Bottom the night of August 13 – 14 . The landings were not managed well and fell behind schedule ; Grant ' s staff had not arranged for adequate wharves to handle the deep - water steamers . Battle . August 14 . After all of his troops were across the James on August 14 , Hancock positioned Birney ' s X Corps on the left , Hancock ' s 3rd Division of II Corps , under Brig . Gen . Gershom Mott , in the center , and Hancock ' s 1st and 2nd Divisions , under Brig . Gen . Francis C . Barlow ( temporarily commanding in the absence of Maj . Gen . John Gibbon ) , on the right . Birney was ordered to demonstrate against New Market Heights while the II Corps divisions attempted to turn the Confederate left . Mott was to push forward on the New Market Road toward Richmond , Barlow to attack Fussell ' s Mill on the Darbytown Road , and Gregg ' s cavalry to cover the right flank of the army and look for an opportunity to race into Richmond . Birney ' s troops successfully pushed aside pickets on the Kingsland Road , but were stopped by the fortifications on New Market Heights . The II Corps units moved slowly into position , suffering numerous deaths from heat stroke . It was not until midday on August 14 that Barlow ' s men made contact with the Confederates , manning rifle pits on the Darbytown Road just north of the Long Bridge Road . The Union generals were surprised at the Confederate strength . In Birney ' s and Mott ' s fronts , a full Confederate division commanded by Maj . Gen . Charles W . Field was dug in . Chaffin ' s Bluff was defended by a division under Maj . Gen . Cadmus M . Wilcox and reinforcements were arriving . Because of Barlow ' s slow approach in the heat , the Confederates had time to reinforce the Fussell ' s Mill area with a section of howitzers and Brig . Gen . George T . Anderson ' s Georgia brigade . Hancock had intended for Barlow ' s to be his primary attack and instructed him to employ sufficient mass along the Darbytown Road . Instead Barlow formed a wide line that reached as far as Mott ' s right flank . Because of this extension and the thick woods through which they had to advance , Barlow ' s 10 , 000 men in the two divisions were left with only a single brigade attacking Fussell ' s Mill . Those men were able to drive away two Confederate cavalry regiments from Brig . Gen . Martin W . Gary ' s brigade at the mill , but Anderson ' s brigade repulsed it . When Field took Anderson ' s brigade from his right flank , it weakened the line in front of Birney ' s corps , which moved forward and occupied some of the Confederate entrenchments and captured four guns . Although the Union attacks had been generally unsuccessful , they had some of the effect Grant desired . Lee became convinced that the threat against Richmond was a serious one and he began moving troops to the front . He dispatched two infantry brigades of Maj . Gen . William Mahone ' s division and the cavalry divisions of Maj . Gen . Wade Hampton and W . H . F . " Rooney " Lee . Grant ordered Hancock to resume his attacks on August 15 and Hancock decided to continue with his emphasis on the Confederate left . He ordered Birney ' s corps to make a night march to join Barlow ' s end of the line . Although it was raining that night , the oppressive heat continued and more than a third of Birney ' s men fell out of the column . August 15 – 16 . Birney ' s movement was delayed by difficult terrain for most of August 15 and Hancock ' s plan for an early morning attack had to be abandoned . They reached Fussell ' s Mill around 1 p . m . and Birney spent the entire afternoon performing a reconnaissance while his men recovered from their march . After this , Birney judged that it was too late in the day to attack . Early on the morning of August 16 , Gregg ' s cavalry swept to the right to Glendale and then rode northwest on the Charles City Road toward Richmond . They found Rooney Lee ' s cavalry division blocking the road and a full day of fighting resulted . The Union cavalrymen drove the enemy as far as White ' s Tavern , but were eventually pushed back to Fisher ' s Farm . Confederate Brig . Gen . John R . Chambliss was killed during the fighting . The infantrymen of the X Corps had a better start to the day , as Brig . Gen . Alfred H . Terry ' s division , led by Col . Francis Bates Pond ' s brigade , broke through the Confederate line . Wright ' s Brigade , commanded by newly promoted Brig . Gen . Victor Girardey , was hit hard and retreated , opening a significant gap . Girardey was killed by a bullet in the head while brandishing the colors of the 64th Georgia . Field later wrote , " Not only the day but Richmond seemed to be gone . " The heavily wooded terrain prevented Birney and Hancock from understanding that they had reached a position of advantage and they were unable to exploit it before Field rearranged his lines to fill the gap and drive back the Federals . Col . William C . Oates led two Alabama regiments in the initial counterattack and was wounded . Robert E . Lee had arrived north of the James by this time and witnessed the action . August 17 – 20 . No fighting occurred on August 17 and a truce was called to allow the two sides to retrieve their dead and wounded . Lee planned a counterattack against the Union right for 11 a . m . on August 18 , a cavalry attack on the Charles City Road accompanied by an infantry attack at Fussell ' s Mill . The effort was poorly coordinated and the cavalry was not ready to move until 5 p . m . Neither the cavalry nor the infantry made any significant gains before dark . That night Hancock sent a II Corps division back to Petersburg to man a part of the trench line while other units were sent from there to the Battle of Globe Tavern at the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad south of the city . By the night of August 20 , having observed no more actions by Robert E . Lee , Hancock withdrew his force back over the James . Aftermath . Union casualties were approximately 2 , 900 men , some due to heat stroke . Confederate casualties were 1 , 500 . General Gregg , Brig . Gen . John R . Chambliss ' s classmate at West Point , took charge of the cavalryman ' s body and later sent it through the lines to Chambliss ' s widow . As at the First Battle of Deep Bottom , the Federal assault had failed against a smaller defensive force . However , the operation had compelled General Lee to detach forces from Petersburg and Bermuda Hundred to deal with the Union advance , preventing him as well from reinforcing Early in the Shenandoah Valley .