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The Battle of Port Walthall Junction
May 6-7, 1864 in Chesterfield County, Virginia
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In conjunction with the opening of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler's Army of the James, 33,000 strong, disembarked from transports at Bermuda Hundred on May 5, threatening the Richmond-Petersburg Railroad.
On the 6th, Hagood's brigade stopped initial Union probes at Port Walthall Junction. Brig. Gen. Charles A. Heckman’s Union brigade of 2,700 easily pushed the 600 Confederates back, but they took cover along Old Stage Road (slightly sunken in this stretch) and the strong position and approaching dark brought the advance to an end, short of the railroad.
On the 7th, Heckman had been reinforced to about 8,000, while Brig. Gen. Johnson’s brigade had arrived and reinforced the Confederates to roughly 2,600.
Overnight Hagood had fallen back from Old Stage Road to the railroad line itself, using the slight embankment to strengthen his position. Heckman's division drove Hagood's and Johnson's brigades from the depot and cut the railroad at Port Walthall Junction. It wasn’t a bad break, only about 1/4 mile of track, and not as thoroughly as western troops wrecked things. Confederate defenders retired behind Swift Run Creek and awaited reinforcements.
