Battle of Old Church

Union cavalry horses photographed outside the Old Church Hotel by Timothy H. O'Sullivan, June 4, 1864

Date	May 30, 1864
Location	Hanover County, Virginia Coordinates: 37°38′40″N 77°13′15″W / 37.6444°N 77.2209°W / 37.6444; -77.2209
Result	Union victory

Belligerents

United States (Union)

CSA (Confederacy)

Commanders and leaders

Alfred T. A. Torbert

Matthew C. Butler

Strength

1 division

2,000 (1 brigade)

Casualties and losses

188

The Battle of Old Church, also known as Matadequin Creek, was fought on May 30, 1864, as part of Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign against Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia during the American Civil War.

As the opposing armies faced each other across Totopotomoy Creek, a Union cavalry division under Brig. Gen. Alfred T. A. Torbert collided with a cavalry brigade under Brig. Gen. Matthew C. Butler at Matadequin Creek, near the Old Church crossroads. After sharp dismounted fighting, the outnumbered Confederates were driven back to within 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of Old Cold Harbor, which preceded the Union capture of that important crossroads the following day.

As the infantry of the two armies fought at the Battle of Bethesda Church on May 30, Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan, the Union Cavalry Corps commander, began to receive requests for assistance from Maj. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren, commander of the V Corps, who was concerned that his isolated advanced position on the left flank of the Union army put him at risk. The Cavalry Corps was encamped near the Haw's Shop battlefield, concentrated in the area to protect the road network that led to the supply base at White House on the Pamunkey River and the New Castle Ferry, an area through which reinforcements from Maj. Gen. William F. "Baldy" Smith's XVIII Corps were expected to travel. Sheridan initially paid little attention to Warren's requests because he still harbored ill feelings from arguments the two generals had at the beginning of the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House. Maj. Gen. George G. Meade, commander of the Army of the Potomac, had also quarreled frequently with both Sheridan and Warren and therefore stayed out of this dispute between them. However, as Warren's requests became more urgent, Sheridan agreed to screen roads leading to Warren's left flank, assigning the task to his division under Brig. Gen. Alfred T. A. Torbert. Torbert delegated the responsibility to the brigade of Col. Thomas C. Devin, which was encamped at the Old Church crossroads. As instructions passed through this chain of command, they became garbled. Rather than patrolling the Old Church Road to the west as desired by Warren, Devin was led to understand that he would picket the Bottoms Bridge Road leading south toward Old Cold Harbor. He placed his brigade in a good defensible position on the north bank of Matadequin Creek and sent a squadron from the 17th Pennsylvania Cavalry to a forward position at the Barker farm, south of the creek.

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