DK - The American Civil War

GRANT ADVANCES TO PETERSBURG

Grant had wanted to avoid a protracted

siege at Petersburg, but his failure to take

the city when the chance arose would

prolong the war into another year.

NORTHERN DISILLUSION

Lee’s war of attrition was wearing down the

North’s will to fight. Copperheads, Peace

Democrats, and other defeatist elements

were gaining support. If Lee could hold out

long enough, the issue might be decided by

the presidential election ❮❮ 236–37 in

November. Meanwhile, Grant kept extending

his Petersburg lines 274–75 ❯❯ to the south

and west, hoping to weaken Lee’s own lines and

capture his remaining railroads.

SOUTHERN VICTORIES

On June 10, Nathan Bedford Forrest routed

a force twice the size of his own at Brice’s

Crossroads, Mississippi 288–89 ❯❯, while on

June 11–12, Wade Hampton stopped Sheridan’s

troopers at Trevilian Station, Virginia. On

June 27, Sherman was defeated at Kennesaw

Mountain outside Atlanta 292–93 ❯❯,

while Jubal Early was preparing to march on

Washington 268–69 ❯❯. All in all, it was a

summer of doubt for the Union.

one corps and one division, plus all
the artillery—crossed the river on a
pontoon bridge that had been erected
in only seven hours. The troops were
followed by 5,000 wagons, 56,000
horses and mules, and 2,800 head of
cattle. For three days an unbroken
cavalcade plodded over the bridge.

Initial attacks
Smith’s Eighteenth Corps was the first
to arrive, disembarking at City Point
on June 15 and marching 10 miles
(16km) toward Petersburg. Behind the
Dimmock Line, General Beauregard’s
Confederate defenders waited

nervously. The assault was launched

that evening, and it was so

overwhelming that the triumphant

Union troops captured great stretches

of the Dimmock Line, forcing

Beauregard back to find another

defensible position. For a moment,

Smith held the key to Petersburg, but

he let it slip from his grasp. Convinced

that more Confederates opposed him

than was actually the case, he failed to

follow up his success. Beauregard

hastily dug a second line of defense,

his men frantically scraping the earth

with bayonets and tin cups, while

Grant pushed his generals to “carry

Petersburg before the enemy could

reinforce its garrison.”

Lee was temporarily confused.

“I do not know the position of Grant’s

army,” he wrote to his superiors in

Richmond the next day. But

Beauregard, now fending off more

than 40,000 enemy troops, identified

the blue-clad soldiers confronting him

as belonging to the Army of the

Potomac. On receiving that news, Lee

sent his veterans hastening down the

road to Petersburg.

Beauregard’s finest hour

Meanwhile, Grant had arrived in front

of the beleaguered city and ordered

another assault for that very evening.

Beauregard still held out. It had not

been much of an attack: “Our men

are tired,” General Meade admitted.

The following day, June 17, brought

heavy fighting, but the attacks were

fitful. Beauregard kept the Union

assaults at bay, shifting his few troops

from pressure point to pressure point as

needed. By daybreak on June 18, the

riflemen were firing with deadly

accuracy, for they repulsed yet another

dawn attack. That afternoon the lead

elements of the Army of Northern

AFTER

From Cold Harbor to Petersburg

Grant’s advance to Petersburg was a triumph of logistics,

but the men of the Army of the Potomac were too tired

after the rigors of weeks of fighting and marching to

break through the city’s weak defenses.

Virginia began to arrive. Holding out

for four days, Beauregard had inflicted

as many casualties as he had men to

command. The Union soldiers were

stymied, and so they dug in. “Grant has

pushed his Army to the extreme limit

of human endurance,” one staff officer

complained privately.

An opportunity missed

Grant had maneuvered to Petersburg

with great skill. But his exhausted

troops and subordinate commanders

had missed a great opportunity.

Seemingly Grant had exchanged one

labyrinth of trenches at Cold Harbor

for another at Petersburg.

The approximate number

of troops at Beauregard’s

disposal to man the defenses of Petersburg

on June 15, 1864. Many of them were old

men and young boys of the militia.

Petersburg from Lee’s headquarters

An artist for the Illustrated London News sketched a

panorama of Petersburg and environs as seen by

General Lee and his staff, while they were “watching

the enemy’s movements through a field-glass.”

2,500

0 km

0 miles 5 10

105

BEAUREGARD

A.P.HILL

ANDERSON

SMITH

SMITH

BURNSIDE

BUTLER

MEADE

SMITH

LEE

GRANT

Pam

unk

ey (^) Ri
ver
(^) P
am
un
key
(^) Ri
ver
James River
(^) A
ppo
mat
tox
(^) R
iver
(^)
Norf
olk (^) &
(^) Pet
ers
burg
Rail
roa
d
RichmRaoinlrdo^ a&d^ Danville
Richmond^ & York River^ Railro
ad
Ric
hm
on
d (^) &
Pe^
ter
sb
urg
(^) Ra
ilro
ad
(^) Southside Railroad
Richmond
Petersburg
Hanover
Mechanicsville
White
House
Cold Harbor
Bermuda
Hundred
City
Point
Charles
City
N KEY
Union forces
Confederate forces
Dimmock Line
(Confederate defenses)
② Jun 12: Grant
orders Army of the
Potomac to sidestep
Richmond and head
for Petersburg
④ Jun 14: Union
engineers lay
immense pontoon
bridge over the
James River
⑤ Jun 15:
Smith’s corps
attacks Petersburg
⑥ Jun 16: Grant
sends three corps
to reinforce Smith
⑦ Jun 17–18:
Beauregard falls back to
second line of defense
⑧ Jun 18:
Reinforcements
from Lee’s army
reach Petersburg
① Jun 9: Butler
fails in attack
on Petersburg’s
thinly defended
fortifications
③ Jun 13–14:
W.F. Smith’s corps is
shipped down the
Pamunkey and up
the James River