The Todd’s Tavern – Clash of Cavalry waysde marker is at Todd’s Tavern, Virginia, southwest of Fredericksburg and halfway between the Wilderness and Spotsylvania battlefields. (38°14’51.8″N 77°40’07.4″W; map)
From the marker:
Todd’s Tavern
Clash of Cavalry
Lee vs. Grant – The 1864 Campaign
On May 7, 1864, Union Gen. George Meade ordered his chief of cavalry, Gen. Philip Sheridan, to clear the road to Spotsylvania. Barring the way was a division of Confederate cavalry commanded by Gen. Fitzhugh Lee, posted here at Todd’s Tavern. Sheridan attacked Lee with two divisions. Wesley Merritt engaged the Confederate attention on the Brock Road, one mile to your right, while Devid M. Gregg struck at them via the Catharpin Road, behind you.
Finding himself outflanked, Fitz Lee withdrew to the Piney Branch Road junction,, two miles to your left. For the next eighteen hours, his troops continued to hinder the Union army’s march by felling trees across the Brock Road and shooting Union Cavalrymen who tried to clear them out of the way. The Confederates’ stiff resistance slowed the Union Army’s progress and ultimately led to the Confederate army winning the race to Spotsylvania.
Captions to the inset photos:
Fitzhugh Lee
Philip Sheridan