Battle of Spotsylvania • Harris Farm
The Battle of Harris Farm was fought on May 19, 1864 about 2.5 miles northeast of Spotsylvania Court House. (see map) It is about a mile east of the preserved Spotsylvania Battlefield Park. Most of the Harris Farm battlefield has been developed into an upscale subdivision of winding streets and tall trees. One monument and two wayside markers on a hillside and a marker on the main highway are the only physical reminders of a fight that saw 2,400 casualties in an afternoon:
Monument to the 1st Massachusetts Heavy Artillery
Baptism of Fire and Harris Farm Engagement wayside markers
Engagement at Harris Farm Virginia historical marker
A monument to the 1st Massachusetts Heavy Artillery and two wayside markers commemorate the Battle of Harris Farm
About the Battle of Harris Farm
The Battle of Harris Farm was the last battle around Spotsylvania Court House. Grant had begun to disengage the Army of the Potomac from the Confederate earthworks and move it to the east towards Richmond. Lee responded by ordering Lieutenant General Richard Ewell to locate the Union right flank.
Ewell chose to take his entire Second Corps on the reconnaissance. After the intense fighting in the Wilderness and Spotsylvania he had barely 6,000 men, roughly the size of a division the year before at Gettysburg. Ramseur’s North Carolina Brigade led the way.
He was opposed by part of Union Major General Winfield S. Hancock’s Second Corps made up of a newly arrived division of heavy artillerymen commanded by Brigadier General Robert O. Tyler. They had spent the war manning the forts around Washington. The “Heavies” fought as infantry, and in their first action the inexperienced troops “got a little mixed up,” in the words of a Union officer, “but they fought confounded plucky.”
The “Heavies” stood their ground, suffering 1,500 casualties but inflicting 900 on Ewell’s veterans, who withdrew. Ewell had accomplished his mission of finding the Union flank, the “Heavies” earned their place as veterans, and the fighting finally moved away from Spotsylvania Court House.
Location of the Harris Farm Engagement wayside marker
The monument and wayside markers at Harris Farm are in a residential neighborhood off Courthouse Road. When leaving Spotsylvania Battlefield Park turn left and proceed 1.4 miles on Courthouse Road. Turn left onto Bloomsbury Lane (there is a left turn lane) and proceed 0.8 mile. Continue straight onto Monument Court when Bloomsbury Lane turns left, and proceed 0.3 mile to Knob Hill Court. The monument and wayside markers are up a short hill on the right. (38°14’02.7″N 77°34’12.7″W)