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Battle of Culpeper Court House

Battle of the American Civil War

Summary

Battle of the American Civil War

Field	Value
conflict	Battle of Culpeper Court House
image	File:The soldier in our Civil War - a pictorial history of the conflict, 1861-1865, illustrating the valor of the soldier as displayed on the battle-field, from sketches drawn by Forbes, Waud, Taylor, (14576377078).jpg
caption	Custer captures artillery
partof	the American Civil War
date
place	Culpeper Court House, Virginia
result	Union victory
combatant1	United States of America
combatant2	Confederate States of America
commander1	Alfred Pleasonton
commander2	J.E.B. Stuart
strength1	Cavalry corps of three divisions
strength2	Cavalry corps of two divisions
casualties1	NA
casualties2	Unknown killed and wounded, 100 men taken prisoner

The Battle of Culpeper Court House was an American Civil War skirmish fought September 13, 1863, near Culpeper, Virginia, between the cavalry of the Union Army of the Potomac and that of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. The Union victory opened up the Culpeper region to Federal control, a prelude to the subsequent Bristoe Campaign.

Background

On September 12, 1863, the Army of the Potomac's 10,000-man Union cavalry corps under Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton left camp near Warrenton, Virginia, and crossed the Rappahannock River, where various elements concentrated near the hamlet of Sulphur Springs. Their objective was to attack Confederate Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's headquarters at Culpeper Court House, the seat of Culpeper County.

Battle

At 4 a.m. the following day, Pleasonton's three divisions moved forward nearly two miles, fording the Hazel River and approaching Culpeper. Advancing in three columns, the Union troopers drove off scattered Confederate pickets and skirmishers. Near the main Confederate defensive line at 1 p.m., 1st Division commander Brig. Gen. H. Judson Kilpatrick ordered a mounted charge by the Michigan Brigade of Brig. Gen. George Armstrong Custer, which carried the Confederate position centered at the railroad depot. Custer seized more than 100 prisoners, as well as three artillery pieces. The three columns converged at Culpeper and continued their advance, driving the Confederates towards the Rapidan River in heavy skirmishing. At nightfall, the victorious Federals encamped near Cedar Mountain, with the Confederates across Raccoon Ford on the Rapidan. Maj. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren's II Corps occupied Culpeper Court House, although his infantry took no part in the cavalry skirmishing. Probing actions the next two days indicated the new Confederate position across the Rapidan was too strong to carry.

References

Newhall, Walter S., Walter S. Newhall: A Memoir. Philadelphia: The Sanitary Commission, 1864.
U.S. War Department, The War of the Rebellion : a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1880–1901.

Notes

References

O.R., Series I, Vol. XXIX, Part 1, p. 110.
O.R., Series I, Vol. XXIX, Part 1, p. 9.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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