This Day in Henrico History: October 27 – Union forces attack Henrico’s defenses at Second Fair Oaks

On October 27, 1864, Union forces attacked Confederate defenses in Henrico County in the operation remembered as the Second Battle of Fair Oaks, or Fair Oaks and Darbytown Road. The fighting formed part of the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign and continued into October 28.

Major General Benjamin Butler’s operation north of the James River accompanied Union movements against the Boydton Plank Road near Petersburg. According to the National Park Service, the X Corps attacked along Darbytown Road while the XVIII Corps moved north toward Fair Oaks.

The assault failed. Confederate troops in Charles Field’s division repulsed the XVIII Corps, and a counterattack captured about 600 Union soldiers. Richmond’s defensive line remained intact.

Virginia’s Department of Historic Resources dates the battle to October 27–28 and places Union losses at about 1,600 and Confederate losses at about 100. The disparity underscores the cost of another unsuccessful attempt to break through the capital’s outer defenses. This was a separate engagement from the better-known Seven Pines fighting at Fair Oaks in 1862.

Sources: Virginia Department of Historic Resources, marker approvals release, April 13, 2015, PDF p. 2; National Park Service, Fair Oaks & Darbytown Road, CWSAC VA080; Library of Congress / Library of Virginia, Normand Smith battle map, October 26–28, 1864.