Second Battle of Ream ' s Station The Second Battle of Ream ' s Station ( also Reams or Reams ' s ) was fought during the Siege of Petersburg in the American Civil War on August 25 , 1864 , in Dinwiddie County , Virginia . A Union force under Maj . Gen . Winfield S . Hancock began destroying part of the Weldon Railroad , which was a vital supply line for Gen . Robert E . Lee ' s Confederate army in Petersburg , Virginia . Lee sent a force under Lt . Gen . A . P . Hill to challenge Hancock and the Confederates were able to rout the Union troops from their fortifications at Reams Station . However , they lost a key portion of the railroad , causing further logistical difficulties for the remainder of the Richmond - Petersburg Campaign . Background . As the siege of Petersburg began to take hold , Union Lt . Gen . Ulysses S . Grant continued to look for ways to sever the railroad links supplying the city of Petersburg , Virginia , Confederate Gen . Robert E . Lee ' s army , and the Confederate capital of Richmond . One of these critical supply lines was the Weldon Railroad , also called the Petersburg and Weldon Railroad , which led south to Weldon , North Carolina , and the Confederacy ' s only remaining major port , Wilmington , North Carolina . In the Battle of Jerusalem Plank Road ( June 21 – 23 , 1864 ) , Maj . Gen . Winfield S . Hancock ' s II Corps was able to destroy a short segment of the Weldon before being driven off by the Third Corps of Gen . Robert E . Lee ' s Army of Northern Virginia . In the Battle of Globe Tavern ( August 18 – 21 ) , Maj . Gen . Gouverneur K . Warren ' s V Corps with reinforcements from the IX Corps destroyed miles of track and withstood strong attacks from Confederate troops under Gen . P . G . T . Beauregard and Lt . Gen . A . P . Hill . This Union victory forced the Confederates to carry their supplies by wagon to bypass the new Union lines that were extended farther to the south and west . However , this was not yet a critical problem for the Confederates . A member of Lee ' s staff wrote , " Whilst we are inconvenienced , no material harm is done us . " General Grant wanted the Weldon closed permanently , destroying of track from Warren ' s position near Globe Tavern as far south as Rowanty Creek ( about north of the town of Stony Creek ) . He assigned the operation to Hancock ' s II Corps , which was in the process of moving south from their operation north of the James River at the Second Battle of Deep Bottom . He chose Hancock ' s corps because Warren was busy extending the fortifications at Globe Tavern , although his selection was of troops exhausted from their efforts north of the James and their forced march south without rest ; Hancock himself continued to suffer lingering affects from his wounds at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863 . Grant augmented Hancock ' s corps with the cavalry division of Brig . Gen . David McM . Gregg . Gregg ' s division departed on August 22 and , after driving off Confederate pickets , they and the II Corps infantry division commanded by Brig . Gen . Nelson A . Miles ( replacing Brig . Gen . Francis C . Barlow , who was on leave ) destroyed the railroad tracks to within of Reams Station . Early on August 23 , Hancock ' s other division , commanded by Brig . Gen . John Gibbon , occupied Reams Station , taking up positions in earthworks that had been constructed by the Union cavalry during the Wilson - Kautz Raid in June . The earthworks were constructed in a partial ellipse with an opening facing to the east , and although they had degraded and were partially filled with water , Hancock ' s men made little effort to improve them . Robert E . Lee considered that the Union troops at Reams Station represented not only a threat to his supply line , but also to the county seat of Dinwiddie County ; if Dinwiddie Court House were to fall , the Confederates would be forced to evacuate both Petersburg and Richmond because it represented a key point on the army ' s potential retreat route . He also saw an opportunity — that he could impose a stinging defeat on the Union Army not long before the presidential election in November . Lee ordered Lt . Gen . A . P . Hill to take the overall command of an expedition that included two cavalry divisions of Maj . Gen . Wade Hampton ' s cavalry , Maj . Gen . Cadmus M . Wilcox ' s division , part of Maj . Gen . Henry Heth ' s division , and part of Maj . Gen . William Mahone ' s division , about 8 – 10 , 000 men in all . Hill , who was suffering from one of his periodic bouts of illness , assigned Heth to tactical command , telling him he " " must " carry the position . " Hancock arrived personally at Reams Station on August 24 and by that evening the Union troops had destroyed track for south of the station . On the morning of August 25 they left their earthworks to start working on the remaining of track , but Hancock recalled them when he heard that Confederate cavalry was approaching . Battle . After the Confederate cavalry pushed back Gregg ' s cavalry , Hill ' s column advanced down the Dinwiddie Stage Road . Wilcox ' s three infantry brigades assaulted the Union position at about 2 p . m . on August 25 . Despite launching two attacks , Wilcox was driven back by Miles ' s division , which was manning the northern part of the earthworks . To the south , Gibbon ' s division was blocking the advance of Hampton ' s cavalry , which had swept around the Union line . While these two attacks were going on , Maj . Gen . George G . Meade , commander of the Army of the Potomac and in temporary overall command while Grant was ill , became concerned that Lee was attempting to turn the left flank of the Union army . Historian John Horn wrote that if Grant had been on the scene , he might have very well ordered an attack on Petersburg at this point , similar to the tactic he would use in April 1865 that caused the fall of the city , taking advantage of the weakly defended lines vacated by the heavy force that Lee had sent to Reams Station . Meade , however , cautiously assumed a defensive stance and rushed reinforcements to his flank , thinning his own lines . The only point that Meade did not reinforce was the sector commanded by his trusty subordinate Hancock , assuming that Hancock would hold the line with his existing resources . Confederate reinforcements from Heth ' s and Mahone ' s divisions arrived while the Confederate artillery under Col . William Pegram softened up the Union position . The final attack began around 5 : 30 p . m . by six brigades against Miles ' s position and it broke through the northwest corner of the Union fortifications ; although the Union defensive fire was fierce enough to keep the Confederates at bay , suddenly two Union regiments panicked and bolted for the rear , opening a gap . Miles ordered his reserve brigade under Col . Horace Rugg to close the gap , but to his astonishment , Rugg ' s men fell prone and refused to open fire . Heth personally led the charge through the earthworks , tussling with Sgt . Thomas Minton of the 26th North Carolina about who would carry the colors forward . Hancock desperately galloped from one threatened point to the next , attempting to rally his men . At one point his horse dropped from under him and , assuming that it had been killed , Hancock proceeded on foot . The horse later jumped to its feet , having been temporarily paralyzed by a glancing blow to the spine , and Hancock remounted . He shouted , " We can beat them yet . Don ' t leave me , for God ' s sake ! " As he witnessed the men of his once proud corps reluctant to retake their positions from the enemy , he remarked to a colonel , " I do not care to die , but I pray God I may never leave this field . " By this time , Hampton ' s cavalry was making progress against Gibbon ' s infantry to the south , launching a surprise dismounted attack that caused many of Gibbon ' s men to flee or surrender . This allowed Hampton to flank Miles . Hancock ordered a counterattack , which provided time to allow for an orderly Union withdrawal to Petersburg after dark . Aftermath . Union casualties were 2 , 747 ( the II Corps lost 117 killed , 439 wounded , 2 , 046 missing / captured ; the cavalry lost 145 ) ; Confederate casualties were 814 ( Hampton ' s cavalry lost 16 killed , 75 wounded , 3 missing ; Hill ' s infantry 720 total ) . Although the Confederates had won a clear victory , they had lost a vital piece of the Weldon Railroad and from this point on they would be able to transport supplies by rail only as far north as Stony Creek Depot , south of Petersburg . From that point , supplies had to be unloaded and wagon trains would have to travel through Dinwiddie Court House and then on the Boydton Plank Road to get the supplies into Petersburg . The South Side Railroad was the only railroad left to supply Petersburg and Lee ' s army . Grant and Meade were generally satisfied with the results of their operations against the Weldon Railroad , despite the tactical setback suffered by Hancock . Meade wrote , The siege of Petersburg and its trench warfare continued . The next major combat would be seen in late September as two Union attacks proceeded in parallel : at New Market Heights , north of the James ( the Battle of Chaffin ' s Farm ) , and south at the Battle of Peebles ' Farm , against the South Side Railroad . See also . Second Ream ' s Station Union Order of Battle