Darbytown Road/Pioneer Baptist Church

The Battle of Darbytown Road, 7 Oct. 1864, was the last large Confederate offensive north of the James River. Gen. Robert E. Lee personally supervised the operation. Attacking from the west astride the Darbytown Road, Lee's infantry shattered the right flank of the Union army under Brig. Gen. August V. Kautz. Fleeing Union artillery batteries encountered the swampy headwaters of Four Mile Creek in the woods near Pioneer Baptist Church. The Confederates captured eight cannon there. Lee’s attack stalled to the south, near the River Road. Pioneer Church, organized in 1843, saw its building burned later in or shortly after the war.

Department of Historic Resources, 2007