Battle of Marion 1864
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 17 December 1864 – 18 December 1864 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1864 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | 19th century (1800–1913) | derived from year |
| Location | United States | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | North America | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | American Civil War | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 36.8520, -81.4873 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Marion was an action that occurred on December 17–18, 1864, during the American Civil War. The fight took place in southwestern Virginia's Smyth County near Marion. A Union Army under the command of Major General George Stoneman defeated a smaller Confederate Army under the command of Major General John C. Breckinridge. The fight was mostly a stalemate for about 36 hours as the Confederate troops held better field position. After realizing that his force was nearly surrounded and low on ammunition, Breckinridge stealthily withdrew his troops during the night, escaping to the south before heading east.
The fight at Marion was one of several conflicts that occurred during a Union expedition known as Stoneman's 1864 raid. The objective of the raid was the destruction of Confederate economic and transport infrastructure—salt mines, lead mines, and the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad. All three were important to the Confederacy's war effort.
After the victory at Marion, Union forces advanced to the salt mines and defeated a small militia in the Second Battle of Saltville. The lead mines and railroad infrastructure had already been ravaged.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Marion (revision 1370449057), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- First Battle of Saltville 1864 · 24 km
- Second Battle of Saltville 1864 · 25 km
- Battle of Cove Mountain 1864 · 39 km
- Battle of Princeton Court House 1862 · 67 km
- Battle of Cloyd's Mountain 1864 · 78 km
- Battle of Clark's House 1862 · 82 km
Other battles of the American Civil War
- Siege of Suffolk 1863
- Siege of Vicksburg 1863
- Skirmish at Ashley's Mills 1863
- Skirmish near Brooklyn, Kansas 1863
- Skirmish of Sporting Hill 1863
- Action at Ashley's Station 1864
- Ambush of the steamboat J. R. Williams 1864
- Bahia incident 1864
- Battle of Adairsville 1864
- Battle of Albemarle Sound 1864
All 498 battles of the American Civil War →
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