State

Defenders Of The South Anna Bridge Л I idle known story of exceptional courage l»y a band of iN'orth C arolina soldiers. Ну T. II. PEARCE The annual Smith» it к Award /or the best newspaper or magazine article on North Carolina history was given for Pearce s two-part story, from which this segment is adapted. In 1X62. Tazewell Tec Har¬ grove. of Granville County. N.C.. raised a company of Granville Conntians for the Confederacy I Company A of the 44th Regi¬ ment). After action against Fed¬ eral troops at Tranters Creek. Hargrove was promoted to I t. Colonel, second in command of the Regiment, and hy all accounts it was he who led and inspired the heroic resistance at the South Anna Rridge. His imprisonment afterward and his remarkable lifelong resistance are the subject of Ran П of Pearce's article, pub¬ lished in the September. 1980 edi¬ tion of this magazine -Ed. A great many people have read Tennyson's ‘’Charge Of The I ighl Brigade" or Lord Macaulay's "Horatius At The Bridge." Most Americans know of the courageous defense of Wake Island and Bataan in World War II. and have read of the brave men of the Alamo. But who has ever heard about the defense of the South Anna Bridge by a small band of North Carolinians, fighting against Federal forces who outnumbered them as much as 40 to I? Had the Confederacy won the war. or had there been a Macaulay or a Ten¬ nyson to write of them, things may have been different. But as matters stand, the action at South Anna Bridge is practically unknown, except for a few students of the War Between The States. A Vital Duty In June of 1863. the 44th N.C. Regi¬ ment of Infantry was with Pettigrew’s Brigade in Virginia when l.ee’s army began its trek toward Maryland and Pennsylvania. Hanover Junction was located some twenty miles northwest of Richmond and was a strategic point, one which must be held at all costs, in order to secure the vital railroad lines that would provide Gen. l.ee’s corn- 74 munications with the capital at Rich¬ mond. The 44th Regiment was detailed to stay behind for this vital duty while the rest of the Brigade went on north¬ ward. Colonel Singletary, with two com¬ panies. remained at Hanover Junction. Major Charles Stcdman. with four companies, would be in command north of the junction. The bridges across the South Anna and Little Ris¬ ers. four in number, would be en¬ trusted to Lt. Colonel Hargrove with four companies. He posted one com¬ pany with each bridge, remaining w ith his old company. A. at the Central Railroad bridge across the South Anna. This being the most dangerous post, it was only natural that he desig¬ nated the company he had raised to defend it. Enemy forces would likely approach from White House I binding. Va.. east of Richmond. Information concerning what happened next comes from first hand accounts of men who took pari. A. S. Pe.icc.md Robert Bing¬ ham. as well «is Kegimcnt.il Historian Charles Stcdman. Yankee Attack On June 26. 1863 the Federal Com¬ mander. Colonel Samuel P. Spear, with 1.200 to 1.500 Pennsylvania and Illinois cavalrymen and two field pieces, crossed the river below the bridge and rode quickly to attack the Confederates from an unsuspected quarter, the south. Colonel Hargrove quickly moved his little force across the river and took cover behind the bed and cross ties of the railroad. A small earthwork and the watchman's house also served as part of his defensive po¬ sition. Colonel Spear brought up his artil¬ lery. dismounted some of his men and. after vigorous shelling, launched a charge using both mounted and un¬ mounted troops. The battle raged for four hours with the little band of de¬ termined Confederates throwing them back at least three times. Colonel Har¬ grove knew the importance of holding the bridge and refused to surrender. The Fedcrals had sent a detachment back across the river to gel in the rear of the Confederates. Just as they were set to attack from both sides, the men of Company G ar¬ rived on the scene from their position some four miles away. Capt. Bingham placed his men in a breastwork about three hundred yards north of the river. They were spaced about two feet apart and ordered to take aim but not to fire until ordered. When the Federal force again charged, the Confederates again drove them back, due to the combined efforts of both companies. A & G. Colonel Spear realized that further frontal attacks were useless and changed his tactics. He ordered a Hank attack, up the bank of the river towards Company (i s unprotected right and upon Company A’s unprotected left at the abutment of the bridge. Sheer force of numbers finally prevailed and a lit¬ eral sea of blue coated cavalrymen en¬ gulfed the small band of desperately fighting Confederates. Pistols and Sabers In an article in Vol. XL. No. 5 of Confederate Veteran by Judge W. A. Devine. A. S. Peace was quoted: "We were completely surrounded. Men in ranks and out of ranks, mounted and on foot, armed and disarmed, were on all sides, while horses without riders ran wild in every direction through the fields. We would now have been an easy prey if the enemy had kept ranks Thn photo depKtt 'he destroyed roilrood bodge o»er the North — not the South — Anno Boer, in Moy. >864. mil «mouldering when the photog¬ rapher orn.ed The South Anno Bridge probobly pretented о timilar picture ofter the action de venbed in thu ttory. THE STATE, January 1914