Battle of Cloyd's Mountain
Cloyd's Mountain, Pulaski County, Virginia, USA
What happened
A Union division under George Crook fought Confederates under Albert G. Jenkins, later commanded by John McCausland. Crook's troops marched to break the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad, an important Confederate supply route. Confederates had built defenses on Cloyd's Mountain to protect it. After about an hour of fighting, the Confederate line broke and the defenders withdrew.
Why it matters
Abraham Lincoln called the railroad the 'gut of the Confederacy'. After the battle, Crook's men captured Dublin Depot and destroyed about six miles of track.
What came next
Union guns burned the New River railroad bridge the next day, but the Confederates rebuilt it in under five weeks.
Did you know?
McCausland summed up the battle in three words: 'We were defeated.'
Timeline
- 9 May 1864Battle of Cloyd's Mountain.
- 10 May 1864Union artillery burns the New River railroad bridge.
- 15 May 1864Crook links up with Averell's cavalry.
- 15 May 1864Battle of New Market is fought in the Shenandoah Valley.