Battle of Yellow Tavern

Illustration of a cavalry charge at the Battle of Yellow Tavern, from William J. Bradley's The Civil War: Fort Sumter to Appomattox

Date	May 11, 1864 (1864-05-11)
Location	Hanover County, Virginia
Result	Union victory

Belligerents

United States (Union)

CSA (Confederacy)

Commanders and leaders

Philip Sheridan

J.E.B. Stuart †

Fitzhugh Lee

Strength

12,000

5,000

Casualties and losses

625

300 captured

The Battle of Yellow Tavern was fought on May 11, 1864, as part of the Overland Campaign of the American Civil War.Union cavalry under Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan was detached from the Army of the Potomac to conduct a raid on Richmond, Virginia, and challenge legendary Confederate cavalry commander Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart. The Confederate force was outnumbered and outgunned and Stuart was mortally wounded while attempting to rally his men, dying the next day.

The Overland Campaign was Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 offensive against Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. The two had fought an inconclusive battle at the Wilderness and were engaged in heavy fighting at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House. Up to this point, Union cavalry commander Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan was dissatisfied with his role in the campaign. His Cavalry Corps was assigned to the Army of the Potomac, under Maj. Gen. George G. Meade, who reported to Grant. Meade had employed Sheridan's forces primarily in the traditional role of screening and reconnaissance, whereas Sheridan saw the value of wielding the Cavalry Corps as an independently operating offensive weapon for wide ranging raids into the rear areas of the enemy. On May 8, 1864, Sheridan went over Meade's head and told Grant that if his Cavalry Corps were let loose to operate as an independent unit, he could defeat "Jeb" Stuart, long a nemesis to the Union army. Grant was intrigued and convinced Meade of the value of Sheridan's request.

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