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The '''Battle of Old Church''' was a cavalry battle fought on May 30, 1864 several miles east of Mechanicsville, Virginia near the banks of Matadequin Creek.  With Lieutenant General [[Ulysses S. Grant]]'s [[Overland Campaign]] stalled along the Totopotomoy Creek line, Federal cavalry began probing east and south looking for weakness along the flanks. On May 30, a division under Brigadier General Alfred Torbert attacked and defeated a Confederate brigade near Old Church, driving Brigadier General Matthew Butler's troopers south towards Cold Harbor.<ref>National Park Service, Heritage Preservation Services, American Battlefield Protection Program, Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Report on the Nation’s Civil War Battlefields, Battle Summary, retrieved April 21, 2011[http://www.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/va059.htm] ''The battle summaries were researched and written by Dale E. Floyd and David W. Lowe, staff members of the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission and historians with the National Park Service''. </ref>  The Battle of Old Church, though relatively minor, lead the way to the bloody [[Battle of Cold Harbor]] the following day.  

The '''Battle of Old Church''' was a cavalry battle fought on May 30, 1864 several miles east of Mechanicsville, Virginia near the banks of Matadequin Creek.  With Lieutenant General [[Ulysses S. Grant]]'s [[Overland Campaign]] stalled along the Totopotomoy Creek line, Federal cavalry began probing east and south looking for weakness along the flanks. On May 30, a division under Brigadier General Alfred Torbert attacked and defeated a Confederate brigade near Old Church, driving Brigadier General Matthew Butler's troopers south towards Cold Harbor.<ref>National Park Service, Heritage Preservation Services, American Battlefield Protection Program, Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Report on the Nation’s Civil War Battlefields, Battle Summary, retrieved April 21, 2011 [http://www.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/va059.htm] ''The battle summaries were researched and written by Dale E. Floyd and David W. Lowe, staff members of the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission and historians with the National Park Service''.</ref>  The Battle of Old Church, though relatively minor, lead the way to the bloody [[Battle of Cold Harbor]] the following day.  

==Prelude==

==Prelude==

Responsibility for the roads was delegated to a brigade under the command of Colonel Thomas C. Devin.  Unfortunately, the orders he received were, he assumed, to patrol the Bottoms Bridge Road south towards Old Cold Harbor, rather than to screen the Old Church Road towards the west.  Reaching Matadequin Creek, Devin set his brigade in a defensive position, while he sent a unit from the 17th Pennsylvania Cavalry across the creek towards the Barker Farm.  

Responsibility for the roads was delegated to a brigade under the command of Colonel Thomas C. Devin.  Unfortunately, the orders he received were, he assumed, to patrol the Bottoms Bridge Road south towards Old Cold Harbor, rather than to screen the Old Church Road towards the west.  Reaching Matadequin Creek, Devin set his brigade in a defensive position, while he sent a unit from the 17th Pennsylvania Cavalry across the creek towards the Barker Farm.  

Lee was also concerned about the roads on his right flank, for different reasons.  If Grant could outmaneuver him, Lee would be faced with the fall of Richmond; he subsequently ordered Brigadier General Matthew Butler to screen the Cold Harbor roads and see whether or not there was a threat to his flank.  Butler's brigade departed Mechanicsville on the morning of May 30th, reaching the Barker Farm early that afternoon.

Lee was also concerned about the roads on his right flank, for different reasons.  If Grant could outmaneuver him, Lee would be faced with the fall of Richmond; he subsequently ordered Brigadier General Matthew Butler to screen the Cold Harbor roads and see whether or not there was a threat to his flank.  Butler's brigade departed Mechanicsville on the morning of May 30, reaching the Barker Farm early that afternoon.

==Battle begins==

==Battle begins==

==References==

==References==

{{Template:Campaignbox Overland Campaign}}

{{Campaignbox Overland Campaign}}

{{Template:ACW Battles of 1864}}

{{ACW Battles of 1864}}

[[Category:American Civil War Battles]]

[[Category:American Civil War Battles]]