Originally aired on June 21, 1996 - In part 95 of our Civil War series, Virginia Tech history professor James Robertson tells us about an important, but little-known fight in Southside Virginia.
#95 – Staunton River Bridge
In World War II, when the battle in the skies over England at last ended, Prime Minister Winston Churchill paid the now-famous tribute to the Royal Air Force: “Never in the field of human endeavor has so much been done for so many by so few.”
Such acclaim could be applied to the extraordinary deeds of gallantry in every conflict. The Civil War was not exception; and when one thinks of a little-known fight down in Southside Virginia, Churchill’s words come to mind.
By June, 1864, the opposing armies of U. S. Grant and R. E. Lee were fighting desperately for control of Petersburg and Richmond. Grant sought to weaken Lee’s position by cutting the Confederate supply lines A Union cavalry detachment of 5,000 horsemen with 16 pieces of artillery moved west. The Federal objective was to circle behind Lee’s army and destroy the Richmond and Danville Railroad Bridge that spanned the Staunton River a dozen or so miles northeast of present-day South Boston.
Captain Benjamin Farinholt and a small band of Confederate reserves were all that stood in the way of Union General James H. Wilson’s host. While Union cavalry were wrecking 60 miles of railroad, burning two trains, and destroying several railroad stations, Farinholt was issuing desperate calls for anyone to come to his assistance in defending the Staunton River Bridge. Among those who responded was an entire class from a nearby boys’ academy. Eventually, an assortment of 492 male civilians from Halifax, Charlottes, and Mecklenburg counties took whatever weapons they could find and joined the 296 reserves under Farinholt. Still, veteran Union horsemen outnumbered the patchwork defenders by six-to-one odds.
Farinholt was a veteran soldier who had participated in several battles before his capture at Gettysburg. He had then done almost the impossible by escaping from notorious Johnson’s Island Prison in Lake Erie and making his way safely back to Virginia. Now he employed every ability he had to defend a wooden bridge out in the middle of nowhere.
To deceive the enemy, Farinholt ordered an empty train run back and forth between Clover Depot and the bridge to give the appearance that he was receiving a steady stream of reinforcements. Next he placed a strong skirmish line on the east side of the river while positioning his six cannon inside an earthen fort overlooking the bridge from the west bank.
The Union attack came on June 25; and uncertain of how strong the Confederate defenders were, the Federal assaults that uncomfortably hot Friday were cautious. Four times that afternoon, blue-coated soldiers punched at the Southern lines. Four times they were beaten back by old gentlemen of seventy winters and young lads of fifteen summers. Late in the afternoon, Union General Wilson abandoned the attempts and ordered a withdrawal. The Staunton River Bridge remained in Confederate hands.
Farinholt’s losses were 10 dead and 24 injured. At least 42 Federals had been killed and an even larger number wounded. One Pennsylvania cavalryman in the engagement would be given the Congressional Medal of Honor for rescuing the body of his captain under heavy fire.
The Staunton River Bridge battlefield is now a state park. The railroad no longer passes through the country, but a steel bridge, stone abutments, and the old right-of-way are still there. So are earthworks and sizable remains of the Confederate fort.
Large numbers of local citizens labor constantly and proudly to elevate the quality of what is a most attractive historic site. Staunton River Bridge is also a reminder of how, one sultry afternoon, old men and young boys stood their ground as soldiers and – in doing so – made their mark in history.
