Battle of Globe Tavern | |||||||
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Part of the American Civil War | |||||||
A photograph of Globe Tavern by Mathew Brady taken between 1860 and 1865. |
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Belligerents | |||||||
United States (Union) | CSA (Confederacy) | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Gouverneur K. Warren |
A. P. Hill P.G.T. Beauregard |
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Strength | |||||||
20,000 | 14–15,000 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
4,296 251 killed 1,148 wounded 2,897 missing/captured |
1,620 211 killed 990 wounded 419 missing/captured |
The Battle of Globe Tavern, also known as the Second Battle of the Weldon Railroad, fought August 18–21, 1864, south of Petersburg, Virginia, was the second attempt of the Union Army to sever the Weldon Railroad during the Siege of Petersburg of the American Civil War. A Union force under Maj. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren destroyed miles of track and withstood strong attacks from Confederate troops under Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard and Lt. Gen. A.P. Hill. It was the first Union victory in the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign. It forced the Confederates to carry their supplies 30 miles (48 km) by wagon to bypass the new Union lines that were extended farther to the south and west.
As the siege of Petersburg began to take hold, Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant continued to look for ways to sever the railroad links supplying the city of Petersburg, Virginia, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's army, and the Confederate capital of Richmond. One of these critical supply lines was the Weldon Railroad, also called the Petersburg and Weldon Railroad, which led south to Weldon, North Carolina, and the Confederacy's only remaining major port, Wilmington, North Carolina. In the Battle of Jerusalem Plank Road, June 21–23, 1864, the II Corps was able to destroy a short segment of the Weldon before being driven off by the Third Corps of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.