Battle of Mine Run The Battle of Mine Run , also known as Payne ' s Farm , or New Hope Church , or the Mine Run Campaign ( November 27 – December 2 , 1863 ) , was conducted in Orange County , Virginia , in the American Civil War . An unsuccessful attempt of the Union Army of the Potomac to defeat the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia , it was marked by false starts and low casualties and ended hostilities in the Eastern Theater for the year . Background . After the Battle of Gettysburg in July , Confederate Gen . Robert E . Lee and his command retreated back across the Potomac River into Virginia . Union commander Maj . Gen . George G . Meade was widely criticized for failing to pursue aggressively and defeat Lee ' s army . Meade planned new offensives in Virginia that fall to correct this . His first attempt was a series of inconclusive duels and maneuvers in October and November known as the Bristoe Campaign . In late November , Meade attempted to steal a march through the Wilderness of Spotsylvania and strike the right flank of the Confederate Army south of the Rapidan River . Meade had intelligence reports that Lee ' s army , half the size of Meade ' s Army of the Potomac ( actually 48 , 000 to Meade ' s 81 , 000 ) , was split in two , separated by Clark ' s Mountain , with the two flanks anchored at Mine Run and Liberty Mills , over thirty miles apart . His plan was to cross the Rapidan at points beyond Maj . Gen . J . E . B . Stuart ' s cavalry screen , overwhelm the right flank ( Lt . Gen . Richard S . Ewell ' s Second Corps ) and then follow up with the remainder ( Lt . Gen . A . P . Hill ' s Third Corps ) . Unlike Maj . Gen . Joseph Hooker ' s plan in the Chancellorsville Campaign earlier that year on essentially the same ground , Meade planned no diversions ; he intended a lightning strike with his entire army . The army marched on November 25 and got off to a good start , aided by fog on Clark ' s Mountain , which screened his movements from Confederate lookouts . However , Maj . Gen . William H . French ' s III Corps got bogged down in fording the river at Jacob ' s Ford , causing traffic jams when they moved their artillery to Germanna Ford , where other units were attempting to cross . Battle . Speed had escaped Meade , who was furious with French , and this allowed Lee time to react . Lee ordered Maj . Gen . Jubal A . Early , in temporary command of Ewell ' s Second Corps , to march east on the Orange Turnpike to meet French ' s advance near Payne ' s Farm . Brig . Gen . Joseph B . Carr ' s division of French ' s corps attacked twice . Maj . Gen . Edward " Allegheny " Johnson ' s division counterattacked , but was scattered by heavy fire and broken terrain . After dark , Lee withdrew to prepared field fortification s along Mine Run . The next day the Union Army closed on the Confederate position . Meade planned a heavy artillery bombardment followed by Maj . Gen . Gouverneur K . Warren ' s II Corps attack in the south , then Maj . Gen . John Sedgwick ' s VI Corps in the north an hour later . Lee planned an assault for December 2 that would have exploited the dangling left flank of the Union line , discovered the previous day by Maj . Gen . Wade Hampton ' s cavalry . Although the Union bombardment began on schedule , the major attack did not materialize ; Meade concluded that the Confederate line was too strong to attack ( although Warren is credited with getting the attack canceled ) and retired during the night of December 1 – 2 , ending the fall campaign . Lee was chagrined to find he had no one left in his front to attack . Aftermath . The Army of the Potomac went into winter quarters at Brandy Station , Virginia . Mine Run had been Meade ' s final opportunity to plan a strategic offensive prior to the arrival of Ulysses S . Grant as general - in - chief the following spring . Lee also regretted the inconclusive results . He was quoted as saying , " I am too old to command this army . We never should have permitted those people to get away . " Confederate hopes of repeating their Chancellorsville triumph had been dashed .