Qualla: First Battle of Deep Bottom

First Battle of Deep Bottom: Introduction

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit William Waud (original sketch), Public domain. Grant did not actually want to capture Richmond on July 27, 1864. He wanted Robert E. Lee to think he did. The Army of the Potomac had been bogged down outside Petersburg for six weeks. Grant had a plan to break the deadlock — Union miners were tunneling under the Confederate line to detonate four tons of black powder beneath their fortifications, an attack scheduled for July 30 that would become known as the Battle of the Crater. To improve its chances, Grant needed Lee to thin out his Petersburg defenses. So Grant sent Winfield Hancock's II Corps and Philip Sheridan's cavalry across the James River at Deep Bottom in a feint toward Richmond. The battle that followed accomplished its mission — and also failed in the way most diversions do.

Image: William Waud (original sketch) | Public domain

First Battle of Deep Bottom: The Geography of the Plan

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit William Waud (original sketch), Public domain. Deep Bottom is a horseshoe bend in the James River, eleven miles southeast of Richmond. The Confederate capital sat north of the river; the Union supply line ran south, mostly through Petersburg's railroad junctions. Sealing Petersburg off was Grant's whole strategy. By June 15-1...

Image: William Waud (original sketch) | Public domain

First Battle of Deep Bottom: The First Day

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit William Waud (original sketch), Public domain. Three Union divisions advanced — John Gibbon's on the left, Francis Barlow's in the center, Gershom Mott's on the right. They broke through the Confederate rifle pits along the New Market Road and captured four cannons. Then they hit Bailey's Creek and the main Confederate fortif...

Image: William Waud (original sketch) | Public domain

First Battle of Deep Bottom: The Second Day

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit William Waud (original sketch), Public domain. By July 28, Lee had committed Richard Anderson to command the Deep Bottom sector and added Henry Heth's infantry division and W.H.F. 'Rooney' Lee's cavalry. Grant reinforced Hancock with a XIX Corps brigade, freeing Gibbon's division to swing around the Confederate left at Gravel...

Image: William Waud (original sketch) | Public domain

First Battle of Deep Bottom: Withdrawal, and What It Bought

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit William Waud (original sketch), Public domain. By the afternoon of July 28, Hancock had repositioned his force to ensure he could pull back across the river without losing it. Grant was satisfied — Lee had pulled enough troops north of the James — and ordered Hancock to send Mott's division back to Petersburg that night for t...

Image: William Waud (original sketch) | Public domain

First Battle of Deep Bottom: The Land Today

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit William Waud (original sketch), Public domain. Second Battle of Deep Bottom followed in the same ground August 13-20, 1864 — another Union diversion, another tactical failure that achieved its strategic purpose by pulling Confederate troops north of the James. The American Battlefield Trust and partners have preserved 258 acr...

Image: William Waud (original sketch) | Public domain