Dublin Core
Title
First Shots Fired at Bibb's Store
Description
Stop 4: First Shots Fired at Bibb's Crossroads
A 9,300-man Union cavalry force under Gen. Philip H. Sheridan, on a raid to destroy parts of the Virginia Central Railroad, camped a few miles east on June 10, 1864. The next morning, Gen. Wesley Merritt’s brigade, followed by Col. Thomas C. Devin’s brigade, moved out of their camps near the Buck Chiles and Woolfolk farms about 5 a.m. With Gen. Alfred T.A. Torbert in personal command, the troopers marched southwest along the Fredericksburg Stage Road toward Trevilian Station
Pickets of the 4th South Carolina Cavalry of Confederate Gen. Matthew C. Butler’s brigade at Bibb’s Crossroads surprised Merritt’s troopers and fired the first shots of the main battle. Merritt and Devin immediately deployed their men into line of battle, and Col. J. Irvin Gregg’s brigade with three batteries of horse artillery came up in support. Butler deployed his own troopers as well as the Georgians of Col. Gilbert J. Wright’s brigade, and a heavy dismounted engagement developed along the Fredericksburg Stage Road.
Continue south on Rt. 613/Oakland Road toward Trevilian Station. Approximately two miles from Bibb’s Crossroads (Oakland) and just beyond Wayland Church, there is an abandoned house on the left. Carefully turn in the driveway and park at the crest of the hill. There is not much of a turnaround spot. This property is owned by Trevilian Station Battlefield Foundation, Inc. and is a future marker site. This is the approximate spot of Hampton’s Charge and Hart’s Battery. Facing the direction from which you just arrived, the Poindexter House is several hundred yards across the road and in the woods to your left.
A 9,300-man Union cavalry force under Gen. Philip H. Sheridan, on a raid to destroy parts of the Virginia Central Railroad, camped a few miles east on June 10, 1864. The next morning, Gen. Wesley Merritt’s brigade, followed by Col. Thomas C. Devin’s brigade, moved out of their camps near the Buck Chiles and Woolfolk farms about 5 a.m. With Gen. Alfred T.A. Torbert in personal command, the troopers marched southwest along the Fredericksburg Stage Road toward Trevilian Station
Pickets of the 4th South Carolina Cavalry of Confederate Gen. Matthew C. Butler’s brigade at Bibb’s Crossroads surprised Merritt’s troopers and fired the first shots of the main battle. Merritt and Devin immediately deployed their men into line of battle, and Col. J. Irvin Gregg’s brigade with three batteries of horse artillery came up in support. Butler deployed his own troopers as well as the Georgians of Col. Gilbert J. Wright’s brigade, and a heavy dismounted engagement developed along the Fredericksburg Stage Road.
Continue south on Rt. 613/Oakland Road toward Trevilian Station. Approximately two miles from Bibb’s Crossroads (Oakland) and just beyond Wayland Church, there is an abandoned house on the left. Carefully turn in the driveway and park at the crest of the hill. There is not much of a turnaround spot. This property is owned by Trevilian Station Battlefield Foundation, Inc. and is a future marker site. This is the approximate spot of Hampton’s Charge and Hart’s Battery. Facing the direction from which you just arrived, the Poindexter House is several hundred yards across the road and in the woods to your left.