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The Battle of Fair Oaks (Second)
October 27-28, 1864 in Fair Oaks, Virginia (aka the Second Battle of Fair Oaks)
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The Richmond defenses were formidable, so any direct assault was unlikely to succeed. By attacking at Fair Oaks, Grant hoped to prevent Lee from shifting any troops along the Richmond-Petersburg line to reinforce the lines at Hatcher's Run.
Troops from Union General Benjamin Butler's Tenth Corps moved north of the James River and conducted a two-pronged offensive against Richmond on October 27.
Confederate General James Longstreet, in charge of the Richmond section of the Confederate defenses, skillfully positioned troops to thwart the Yankees. Union General Godfrey Weitzel, commander of part of the attack, enjoyed some initial success but could not significantly penetrate the Rebel trenches. On October 28, Weitzel determined that he had accomplished all he could and withdrew his troops.
Some 1,100 Union men were killed, wounded, or captured during the attack, while the Confederates lost some 450 troops. The planned diversion did not work--at the far end of the defenses, the Yankees failed to move around the end of the Confederate line at Hatcher's Run.
The XVIII Corps marched north to Fair Oaks where it was soundly repulsed by Field's Confederate division. Confederate forces counterattacked, taking some 600 prisoners.
The Richmond defenses remained intact. Of Grant's offensives north of the James River, this was repulsed most easily.
