Defense of Richmond

The Battle of Richmond, or known as the Defense of Richmond was an engagement in the Take Command War, part of the Border Line Campaign.

On February 6, 1861, the Confederate's were surprised to hear that Joseph Chamberlain had rushed in his division to destroy Richmond.

Background
After the North and the South declared war on each other, and the Confederacy attacked Anderson, Lincoln decided that a threat against Richmond would be a warning for the Confederacy. He had Chamberlain's division to attack the poorly guarded Richmond that was defended by William D. Pender.

Battle
Chamberlain sent 6,500 troops against Pender's 1,200. Pender was well aware of this attack and set up defenses. At 9:00 a.m., Chamberlain 8 regiments charge, 4 provide fire and have his cannons blast the defenses. Pender had trenches all set up and cannons 150 yards behind.

The Union was mowed down by gunfire and only came into the 30-yard range for a few minutes. Back in the trenches, cannonfire had killed half of Pender's brigade, but he kept his troops firing. When the Union came within 70 yards he had cannons fire shrapnels for 5 minutes before the Union retreated. During the retreat, some 50 Union soldiers were cut down.

Aftermath
After two-back-to-back losses, Joseph Chamberlain was downgraded from a major general to a brigadier general. Grant, determined to dig into the South, continued the Border Line Campaign.