Todds Tavern, Virginia

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Todds Tavern, Virginia
Unincorporated community
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Todds Tavern, Virginia
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Todds Tavern, Virginia
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Todds Tavern, Virginia
Coordinates: 38°14′53″N77°40′07″W / 38.24806°N 77.66861°W / 38.24806; -77.66861
CountryFlag of the United States.svg United States
State Flag of Virginia.svg  Virginia
County Spotsylvania
Time zone UTC−5 (Eastern (EST))
  Summer (DST) UTC−4 (EDT)

Todds Tavern is an unincorporated community in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, United States, and was the site of the Battle of Todd's Tavern.

Contents

History

Todds Tavern was the focal point of a cavalry battle on 7–8 May 1864, between the battles of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House during the American Civil War. [1] The tavern location on Brock Road carried the name of Charles Todd who died about 1850. According to the historian Noel Harrison's research, the Todd family sold the property around 1845 to Flavius Josephus Ballard who re-sold the property in 1869. [2] The intersection where the tavern stood still maintains the name "Todd's Tavern". Today, there is a convenience store at the crossroads where the original tavern sat.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of the Wilderness</span> Major battle of the American Civil War

The Battle of the Wilderness was fought on May 5–7, 1864, during the American Civil War. It was the first battle of Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign against General Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. The fighting occurred in a wooded area near Locust Grove, Virginia, about 20 miles (32 km) west of Fredericksburg. Both armies suffered heavy casualties, nearly 29,000 in total, a harbinger of a war of attrition by Grant against Lee's army and, eventually, the Confederate capital, Richmond, Virginia. The battle was tactically inconclusive, as Grant disengaged and continued his offensive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Spotsylvania Court House</span> 1864 battle of the American Civil War

The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, sometimes more simply referred to as the Battle of Spotsylvania, was the second major battle in Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Maj. Gen. George G. Meade's 1864 Overland Campaign of the American Civil War. Following the bloody but inconclusive Battle of the Wilderness, Grant's army disengaged from Confederate General Robert E. Lee's army and moved to the southeast, attempting to lure Lee into battle under more favorable conditions. Elements of Lee's army beat the Union army to the critical crossroads of the Spotsylvania Court House in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, and began entrenching. Fighting occurred on and off from May 8 through May 21, 1864, as Grant tried various schemes to break the Confederate line. In the end, the battle was tactically inconclusive, but both sides declared victory. The Confederacy declared victory because they were able to hold their defenses. The United States declared victory because the Federal offensive continued and Lee's army suffered losses that could not be replaced. With almost 32,000 casualties on both sides, Spotsylvania was the costliest battle of the campaign.

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References

  1. "Battle of Todd's Tavern". National Park Service. Archived from the original on May 10, 2015. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
    - Eisert, Kevin. "Battle of Todd's Tavern "A Hunch Pays Off" May 7-8, 1864". The War For States' Rights. Archived from the original on November 20, 2016. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  2. Cummings III, John F. (March 10, 2014). Even If Written In Stone - the case of Charles Robert Todd. Fredericksburg Guide Book. pp. 34–35. Retrieved May 29, 2019.