Black’s and White’s Station

In June 1864, to deny Gen. Robert E. Lee the use of the South Side R.R. and the Richmond and Danville R.R., Gen. Ulysses S. Grant sent Gen. James H. Wilson and Gen. August V. Kautz south of Petersburg on a cavalry raid to destroy track and rolling stock. Kautz’s force passed here on June 23 on the way to Burkeville. Wilson’s force, close behind, destroyed three warehouses containing cotton as well as railroad track, ties, and other supplies here. Before leaving, Wilson was given incorrect directions by a local citizen who sent him on the Hungarytown Road several miles away from the main rail line, which was along the Court House Road. Former Congressman and Gen. Roger Atkinson Pryor, a native of Nottoway County, was riding with Gen. W.H.F. “Rooney” Lee’s cavalry when it arrived here. Pryor directed the Confederates to a shortcut at Hardy’s Fork to allow Lee’s cavalry to get in front of Wilson. The two forces collided just a few miles east of Nottoway Court House as Wilson tried to regain the road.