Mine Run 27 November 1863

The Battle of Mine Run on 27 November was an inconclusive Union offensive. Union soldiers were to cross the Rapidan River and strike the Confederate’s right flank. This strategy began to fail when a Union corps became bogged down in the river, delaying further Union forces from crossing. General Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederate Army, meanwhile deployed Major General Jubal A. Early’s corps east, near Bartlett’s Mill, and General A.P Hill’s corps at New Hope Church, where they clashed with Union soldiers under the command of Generals G. Sykes, J. Newton and G.K Warren. After dark, the Confederates fortified Mine Run, near Payne’s Farm. The following day, Warren’s II Corps and Major General J Sedgwick’s VI Corps were primed to attack the Confederate line from the south and north. Although Union bombardments began on schedule, the planned attack was cancelled as Warren decided the Confederate line was too strong to penetrate. The Union army withdrew on 1 ̶ 2 December.