Second Battle of Saltville 1864
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 20 December 1864 – 21 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 | 36.8646, -81.7674 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Second Battle of Saltville (December 20–21, 1864), was fought near the town of Saltville, Virginia, during the American Civil War. The battle was a Union victory, and marked the end of a Union excursion known as Stoneman's 1864 raid or Stoneman's raid into Southwest Virginia. The Union objective at Saltville was to destroy a salt works that produced over half of the salt used by the Confederacy to preserve meat—including that used to supply the Army of Northern Virginia.
After the defeat of Brevet Major General Stephen G. Burbridge's expedition against Saltville (First Battle of Saltville) earlier in the year, Union Major General George Stoneman reassembled a force to again try to destroy the saltworks there. Stoneman's force included Burbridge's Division and a brigade under Brigadier General Alvan C. Gillem. Starting in Tennessee and moving to Southwestern Virginia, Stoneman defeated a Confederate force in Virginia's Battle of Marion on the December 17–18. In that battle, Union forces drove away a Confederate force commanded by Major General John C. Breckinridge.
After the action at Marion, Stoneman's force advanced to Saltville. Breckinridge was not present, but he had 500 men at Saltville under the command of Colonel Robert Preston.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Second Battle of Saltville (revision 1370736573), 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 · 2 km
- Battle of Marion 1864 · 25 km
- Battle of Cove Mountain 1864 · 61 km
- Battle of Blountville 1863 · 62 km
- Battle of Island Flats · 79 km
- Battle of Princeton Court House 1862 · 81 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 →
Browse more: battles in United States · North America · 19th century battles