Battle of Fair Oaks & Darbytown Road

Battle of Fair Oaks & Darbytown Road
	Part of the American Civil War
	; A drawing of the action on the 27th, by Alfred Waud.
Date	October 27, 1864 – October 28, 1864
Location	Henrico County, Virginia
Result	Confederate victory
Belligerents
United States (Union)	CSA (Confederacy)
Commanders and leaders
Benjamin F. Butler	James Longstreet
Units involved
X Corps; XVIII Corps	Longstreet's corps
Casualties and losses
1,603	100

The Battle of Fair Oaks & Darbytown Road (also known as the Second Battle of Fair Oaks) was fought on October 27–28, 1864, in Henrico County, Virginia, as part of the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign of the American Civil War.

In combination with movements against the Boydton Plank Road at Petersburg, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler attacked the Richmond defenses along Darbytown Road with the X Corps. The XVIII Corps marched north to Fair Oaks where it was soundly repulsed by Maj. Gen. Charles W. Field's Confederate division. Confederate forces counterattacked, taking some 600 prisoners. The Richmond defenses remained intact. Of Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's offensives north of the James River, this was repulsed most easily. The Medal of Honor was awarded to First Lieutenant William Rufus Shafter for his actions.^[1] Union casualties were 1,603, Confederates fewer than 100.^[2]

Background

Order of battle

Union

The following Union Army units and commanders fought in the Battle of Fair Oaks & Darbytown Road. It is compiled from the official tabulation of casualties, so includes only units which sustained casualties.^[3]

Army of the James

MG Benjamin F. Butler

X Corps

BG Alfred H. Terry

Division	Brigade	Regiments and Others
First Division BG Adelbert Ames	First Brigade Col Alvin C. Voris	39th Illinois 62nd Ohio 67th Ohio 85th Pennsylvania (detachment)
	Second Brigade Col Joseph C. Abbott	6th Connecticut 7th Connecticut 3rd New Hampshire 7th New Hampshire 16th New York Heavy Artillery (7 companies)
	Third Brigade Col Harris M. Plaisted	10th Connecticut 11th Maine 24th Massachusetts 100th New York
Second Division BG Robert S. Foster	First Brigade Col Newton Martin Curtis	3rd New York 112th New York 117th New York 142nd New York
	Second Brigade Col Galusha Pennypacker	47th New York 76th Pennsylvania 97th Pennsylvania 203rd Pennsylvania
	Third Brigade Col Louis Bell	13th Indiana (3 companies) 9th Maine 115th New York
Third Division BG Joseph R. Hawley	First Brigade Col James Shaw, Jr.	7th U.S. Colored Troops 9th U.S. Colored Troops 41st U.S. Colored Troops (Company A)
	Second Brigade Col Ulysses Doubleday	29th Connecticut 8th U.S. Colored Troops 45th U.S. Colored Troops (6 companies)
	Artillery Brigade Ltc Richard Jackson	1st U.S., Batteries C & D

XVIII Corps

MG Godfrey Weitzel

Division	Brigade	Regiments and Others
First Division BG Gilman Marston	First Brigade Ltc John B. Raulston	13th New Hampshire 81st New York 98th New York 139th New York
	Second Brigade Col Edgar M. Cullen	5th Maryland 10th New Hampshire 92nd New York (detachment) 96th New York 118th New York
	Third Brigade Ltc Joab N. Patterson	21st Connecticut 40th Massachusetts 2nd New Hampshire 58th Pennsylvania 188th Pennsylvania
	Unattached	Sharpshooters Pioneers 8th Connecticut: Col John E. Ward
Second Division BG Charles A. Heckman	First Brigade [not engaged]
	Second Brigade Col Edward H. Ripley	8th Maine 9th Vermont
	Third Brigade Col Harrison S. Fairchild	89th New York 148th New York 2nd Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery, Company G 19th Wisconsin
Third Division	First Brigade Col John H. Holman Ltc Abial G. Chamberlain	1st U.S. Colored Troops 22nd U.S. Colored Troops 37th U.S. Colored Troops
	Second Brigade Col Alonzo G. Draper	5th U.S. Colored Troops 36th U.S. Colored Troops 38th U.S. Colored Troops
	Unattached	2nd U.S. Colored Cavalry (dismounted)
Artillery Division		New York Light Artillery, 16th Battery 1st Pennsylvania Light Artillery, Battery A
Cavalry Division Col Robert M. West	First Brigade Col George W. Lewis	3rd New York 5th Pennsylvania
	Second Brigade Col Samuel P. Spear	1st District of Columbia (Battalion) 11th Pennsylvania
	Third Brigade Col Andrew W. Evans	1st Maryland 1st New York Mounted Rifles
	Artillery Brigade	Wisconsin Light, 4th Battery 1st U.S., Battery B

Confederate

The following Confederate army units and commanders fought at the battle.^[4]

Army of Northern Virginia

First Corps

LTG James Longstreet

Division	Brigade	Regiments and Others
Field's Division MG Charles W. Field	Anderson's Brigade BG George T. Anderson	7th Georgia 8th Georgia 9th Georgia 11th Georgia 59th Georgia
	Law's Brigade Col William F. Perry	4th Alabama 15th Alabama 44th Alabama 47th Alabama 48th Alabama
	Gregg's Brigade Col Frederick S. Bass	3rd Arkansas 1st Texas 4th Texas 5th Texas
	Benning's Brigade Col Dudley M. Du Bose	2nd Georgia 15th Georgia 17th Georgia 20th Georgia
	Bratton's Brigade BG John Bratton	1st South Carolina 5th South Carolina 6th South Carolina 2nd South Carolina Rifles

Fourth Corps

Division	Brigade	Regiments and Others
Hoke's Division MG Robert F. Hoke	Hagood's Brigade BG Johnson Hagood	7th South Carolina (battalion) 11th South Carolina 21st South Carolina 25th South Carolina 27th South Carolina
	Colquitt's Brigade BG Alfred H. Colquitt	6th Georgia 19th Georgia 23rd Georgia 27th Georgia 28th Georgia
	Clingman's Brigade BG Thomas L. Clingman	8th North Carolina 31st North Carolina 51st North Carolina 61st North Carolina
	Kirkland's Brigade BG William Whedbee Kirkland	17th North Carolina 42nd North Carolina 66th North Carolina

Cavalry Corps

Division	Brigade	Regiments and Others
W. H. F. Lee's Division MG W. H. F. Lee	Barringer's Brigade BG Rufus Barringer	1st North Carolina Cavalry 2nd North Carolina Cavalry 3rd North Carolina Cavalry 5th North Carolina Cavalry
	Beale's Brigade BG Richard L. T. Beale	9th Virginia Cavalry 10th Virginia Cavalry 13th Virginia Cavalry
	Dearing's Brigade BG James Dearing	8th Georgia Cavalry 4th North Carolina Cavalry 16th North Carolina Cavalry
Butler's Division MG Matthew Butler	Butler's Brigade Col Hugh Kerr Aiken	4th South Carolina Cavalry 5th South Carolina Cavalry 6th South Carolina Cavalry
Butler's Division MG Matthew Butler	Young's Brigade Col J.F. Waring	10th Georgia Cavalry Cobb's (Georgia) Legion Phillip's (Georgia) Legion Jeff. Davis (Mississippi) Legion
	Horse Artillery Maj R. Preston Chew	Hart's (South Carolina) Battery Graham's (Virginia) Battery McGregor's (Virginia) Battery

Abbreviations used

Military rank

Gen = General
LTG = Lieutenant General
MG = Major General
BG = Brigadier General
Col = Colonel
Ltc = Lieutenant Colonel
Maj = Major

Other

(w) = wounded
(mw) = mortally wounded
(k) = killed in action
(c) = captured

Battle

Notes

^ "Medal of Honor awardees". Archived from the original on 2010-04-04. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
^ Salmon, p. 445.
^ "Number 7. Return of Casualties in the Union Forces". Official Reports Part 1 (Serial Number 87) – Reports. The Siege of Petersburg Online. 17 July 2010. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
^ Trudeau, Noah Andre. The Last Citadel: Petersburg, Virginia June 1864 – April 1865. Boston, Massachusetts: Little, Brown and Company, 1991. ISBN 0-316-85327-5.

References

National Park Service battle description
Salmon, John S. The Official Virginia Civil War Battlefield Guide. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2001. ISBN 0-8117-2868-4.
CWSAC Report Update

37°29′38″N 77°20′02″W / 37.494°N 77.334°W / 37.494; -77.334

[1] "Medal of Honor awardees". Archived from the original on 2010-04-04. Retrieved 2022-04-23.

[2] Salmon, p. 445.

[3] "Number 7. Return of Casualties in the Union Forces". Official Reports Part 1 (Serial Number 87) – Reports. The Siege of Petersburg Online. 17 July 2010. Retrieved 29 October 2012.

[4] Trudeau, Noah Andre. The Last Citadel: Petersburg, Virginia June 1864 – April 1865. Boston, Massachusetts: Little, Brown and Company, 1991. ISBN 0-316-85327-5.

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