Beefsteak Raid - Aftermath

Aftermath

The total losses for the Confederates, who saw some opposition, were 10 killed, 47 wounded, and 4 missing. The official count of cattle successfully reaching the Confederates for food was 2,468.

Despite the raid's success, its strategic impact was not as great as the large number of cattle taken might seem to indicate. For whereas the Union had the resources to replace its lost cattle, the Confederates lacked grain to spare for feed. They were therefore forced to slaughter the cattle almost as soon as they had secured it. The ensuing "feast" on the Confederate side might be better described as a rush to consume the beef before it spoiled.

There was so much beef available that Confederate sentries would sometimes offer it in unauthorized trades with Union sentries for certain luxury items of which the Federal soldiers had a plentiful supply, but the Confederates lacked. After the beef was eaten or spoiled, the Confederates reverted to their previous, dire food situation.

Abraham Lincoln called the raid "the slickest piece of cattle-stealing" he ever heard of. General Lee's adjutant Walter H. Taylor said it made up for the loss of the Weldon Railroad, a claim historians consider to be overstated.

A fictionalized depiction of the raid is featured in the 1966 film Alvarez Kelly.