# Beefsteak Raid > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Beefsteak_Raid > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Beefsteak_Raid.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beefsteak_Raid > Source revision: 1331822659 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Part of the American Civil War Beefsteak Raid Part of the American Civil War "The Great Cattle Raid at Harrison's Landing" (from Harper's Weekly) Date September 14, 1864 (1864-09-14) – September 17, 1864 (1864-09-17) Location Prince George County, Virginia Result Confederate victory Belligerents United States (Union) CSA (Confederacy) Commanders and leaders Wade Hampton Strength 3,000 Casualties and losses 304 captured 2,685 cattle captured 10 killed 47 wounded 4 missing v t e Siege of Petersburg† 1st Petersburg 2nd Petersburg Jerusalem Plank Road Wilson–Kautz Raid Staunton River Bridge Sappony Church 1st Ream's Station 1st Deep Bottom Crater 2nd Deep Bottom Globe Tavern 2nd Ream's Station Beefsteak Raid Chaffin's Farm Peebles' Farm Vaughan Road Darbytown & New Market Roads Darbytown Road Fair Oaks & Darbytown Road Boydton Plank Road Trent's Reach Hatcher's Run Fort Stedman † also known as Richmond–Petersburg campaign The **Beefsteak Raid** was a [Confederate](/source/Confederate_States_Army) [cavalry](/source/Cavalry) raid that took place in September 1864 as part of the [Siege of Petersburg](/source/Siege_of_Petersburg) during the [American Civil War](/source/American_Civil_War). Confederate [Maj. Gen.](/source/Major_General_(CSA)) [Wade Hampton](/source/Wade_Hampton_III) led a force of 3,000 troopers of the [Confederate States Army](/source/Confederate_States_Army) on what was to become a 100-mile (160 km) ride to acquire cattle that were intended for consumption by the [Union Army](/source/Union_Army), which was laying a combined [siege](/source/Siege) to the cities of [Richmond](/source/Richmond%2C_Virginia) and [Petersburg, Virginia](/source/Petersburg%2C_Virginia). ## Background Always lacking in supplies, the Confederate forces that were defending the capital of Richmond were beginning to run out of food. A report by General [Robert E. Lee](/source/Robert_E._Lee) on August 22, 1864, stated that corn to feed the Southern soldiers was exhausted.[1] A scout, Sergeant George D. Shadburne, informed General Hampton on September 5 that there were 3,000 lightly defended cattle behind Union lines, at [Edmund Ruffin](/source/Edmund_Ruffin)'s plantation on Coggin's Point, 5 miles (8 km) down the [James River](/source/James_River) from [Lt. Gen.](/source/Lieutenant_general_(United_States)) [Ulysses S. Grant](/source/Ulysses_S._Grant)'s headquarters. Believing the cattle were defended by only 120 Union soldiers and 30 civilians (the actual force was larger, but still less than 500), Hampton arranged for 3,000 Confederate troops to follow him. ## Raid On September 14, 1864, Hampton led his men to the south of Petersburg and the Union trenches, in order to eventually turn north behind Union lines. He chose to cross where the Cook's Bridge over the [Blackwater River](/source/Blackwater_River_(Virginia)) once stood, knowing that an attack from there would be unexpected. He had some engineers reconstruct the bridge. At 5 a.m. on September 16, Hampton's force attacked with a three-prong strike, with the center directed toward the cattle. Hampton's force captured more than 2,000 cattle, along with 11 wagons and 304 prisoners, leading them back to the Confederate lines at 9 a.m. on September 17. ## Aftermath The total losses for the Confederates, who saw some opposition, were 10 killed, 47 wounded, and 4 missing. The official count of cattle successfully reaching the Confederates for food was 2,468.[2] For days afterwards, the southerners would taunt the northern sentries, thanking them for all the food and inviting them over for dinner. There was so much beef available that Confederate sentries would sometimes offer it in unauthorized trades with Union sentries for certain luxury items of which the Federal soldiers had a plentiful supply, but the Confederates lacked.[1] [Abraham Lincoln](/source/Abraham_Lincoln) called the raid "the slickest piece of [cattle-stealing](/source/Cattle_raiding)" he ever heard of.[3] General Lee's [adjutant](/source/Adjutant_general), Lt. Col. [Walter H. Taylor](/source/Walter_H._Taylor), said it made up for disruption of Confederate supply lines caused by [the loss of the Weldon Railroad](/source/Battle_of_Globe_Tavern).[4] ## Legacy Much of the action of the Beefsteak Raid took place in [Prince George County](/source/Prince_George_County). The Prince George County Regional Heritage Center commemorates the raid with a steak dinner each September. A fictionalized depiction of the raid is featured in the 1966 film *[Alvarez Kelly](/source/Alvarez_Kelly)*. ## References 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Bakeless342_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Bakeless342_1-1) Bakeless, John. *Spies of the Confederacy* (Courier Dover Publications, 1997) p. 342. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Ackerman p. 68; *[Wade Hampton and the Great Beefsteak Raid](http://www.wadehamptoncamp.org/hist-bs.html)* Lt. Gen. Wade Hampton Camp No. 273, [Sons of Confederate Veterans](/source/Sons_of_Confederate_Veterans) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Ackerman, p. 68. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Taylor, Walter. *Lee's Adjutant: The Wartime Letters of Colonel Walter Herron Taylor, 1862–1865* (Univ of South Carolina Press, 1994) pp. 193, 295. [37°17′54″N 77°09′54″W / 37.2982°N 77.1650°W / 37.2982; -77.1650](https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Beefsteak_Raid¶ms=37.2982_N_77.1650_W_type:event_region:US_scale:30000) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Beefsteak Raid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beefsteak_Raid) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beefsteak_Raid?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.