Battle of Old Church The Battle of Old Church , also known as Matadequin Creek , was fought on May 30 , 1864 , 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 . As the opposing armies faced each other across Totopotomoy Creek , a Union cavalry division under Brig . Gen . Alfred T . A . Torbert collided with a cavalry brigade under Brig . Gen . Matthew C . Butler at Matadequin Creek , near the Old Church crossroads . After sharp dismounted fighting , the outnumbered Confederates were driven back to within of Old Cold Harbor , which preceded the Union capture of that important crossroads the following day . Background . As the infantry of the two armies fought at the Battle of Bethesda Church on May 30 , Maj . Gen . Philip Sheridan , the Union Cavalry Corps commander , began to receive requests for assistance from Maj . Gen . Gouverneur K . Warren , commander of the V Corps , who was concerned that his isolated advanced position on the left flank of the Union army put him at risk . The Cavalry Corps was encamped near the Haw ' s Shop battlefield , concentrated in the area to protect the road network that led to the supply base at White House on the Pamunkey River and the New Castle Ferry , an area through which reinforcements from Maj . Gen . William F . " Baldy " Smith ' s XVIII Corps were expected to travel . Sheridan initially paid little attention to Warren ' s requests because he still harbored ill feelings from arguments the two generals had at the beginning of the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House . Maj . Gen . George G . Meade , commander of the Army of the Potomac , had also quarreled frequently with both Sheridan and Warren and therefore stayed out of this dispute between them . However , as Warren ' s requests became more urgent , Sheridan agreed to screen roads leading to Warren ' s left flank , assigning the task to his division under Brig . Gen . Alfred T . A . Torbert . Torbert delegated the responsibility to the brigade of Col . Thomas C . Devin , which was encamped at the Old Church crossroads . As instructions passed through this chain of command , they became garbled . Rather than patrolling the Old Church Road to the west as desired by Warren , Devin was led to understand that he would picket the Bottoms Bridge Road leading south toward Old Cold Harbor . He placed his brigade in a good defensible position on the north bank of Matadequin Creek and sent a squadron from the 17th Pennsylvania Cavalry to a forward position at the Barker farm , south of the creek . Meanwhile , unbeknownst to Sheridan , Robert E . Lee was concerned about the critical road intersection at Old Cold Harbor , only six miles from the Confederate capital of Richmond . He dispatched Brig . Gen . Matthew C . Butler ' s brigade of 2 , 000 troopers from Mechanicsville to determine whether the intersection was threatened . Butler took with him the 4th and 5th South Carolina Cavalry regiments from his own brigade ( leaving behind 6th South Carolina , which he considered to be too inexperienced ) and the small brigade of Brig . Gen . Martin W . Gary , which consisted of only the 7th South Carolina Cavalry . The Confederate cavalrymen departed midmorning on May 30 and arrived near the Barker farm between 1 and 2 p . m . Battle . Skirmishers from Butler ' s brigade easily pushed the squadron of Pennsylvanians back to Matadequin Creek . Devin sent in two more squadrons from the 17th Pennsylvania and Maj . Coe Durland led them in a charge that restored the original Union picket line position . Assuming that he faced only a token force , Devin provided no more reinforcements . However , at 3 p . m . , an attack by Butler ' s main force overwhelmed the Union pickets , who fought a vigorous delaying action to prevent the South Carolinians from crossing over the creek . Devin deployed two additional regiments on either side of the Pennsylvanians — the 6th New York to the right and the 9th New York to the left . Butler deployed the 4th South Carolina to the west of the road , facing the 6th New York , and the 5th South Carolina to the east , facing the 9th New York . He left the 7th South Carolina in reserve . As Torbert surveyed the scene , he realized that three regiments would be insufficient to resist the Confederate brigade , so he ordered the rest of his division to move up . Brig . Gen . Wesley Merritt ' s reserve brigade was the first to arrive , and his 2nd U . S . Cavalry regiment replaced the 17th Pennsylvania , which had run low on ammunition , in the center of the line . On the right end of the Union line , the 6th New York and the 2nd U . S . pushed back the 4th South Carolina , which was soon reinforced by the Charleston Light Dragoons . The Confederates built breastworks out of logs from Liggan ' s farm . On the left end , the 9th New York met heavy resistance from the 5th South Carolina , which was protected by the 40 - foot banks of the Matadequin . Merritt attempted to outflank the Confederate position with the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry , commanded by Capt . Charles L . Leiper . Although they managed to cross the creek to the left of the 9th New York , they were stopped in heavy hand - to - hand combat with the South Carolinians and Leiper was severely wounded . The stalemate was broken by the arrival of the Union brigade under Brig . Gen . George A . Custer . He deployed his 5th Michigan on the right of Bottoms Bridge Road , the 1st and 7th Michigan on the left , and the 6th Michigan in reserve . Their attack flanked the Confederates on both ends of the line . As Butler ' s men fled to the rear , his reserve regiment , the 7th South Carolina , counterattacked in an attempt to maintain the line . The superior Union numbers and firepower — the Michiganders were armed with Spencer repeating rifle s and Torbert had deployed horse artillery , a weapon that Butler did not have available — carried the day . Although almost all the fighting in the battle was dismounted , Col . Frank A . Haskell and Maj . Edward M . Boykin ( cousin of the famous Confederate diarist , Mary Chesnut ) led the 7th on horseback , and both were severely wounded during the charge . The 20th Georgia Battalion arrived at the end of the battle and were almost swamped by their colleagues racing away on horseback . The Union troopers pursued the retreating Confederates with enthusiasm . Butler eventually rallied his men at Old Cold Harbor and Torbert ' s men bivouacked about 1 . 5 miles northeast of the intersection . Aftermath . Although Butler had successfully gathered the information that Robert E . Lee needed , for the second time in three days — Haw ' s Shop and Matadequin Creek — the Confederate cavalry had been driven back by their Union counterparts , and in both cases Custer ' s brigade had provided the crucial force needed to prevail . Casualties were about 90 on the Union side , 188 on the Confederate . The door was open for Sheridan ' s capture of the important Old Cold Harbor crossroads the next day , leading to the start of the bloody Battle of Cold Harbor .