PETERSBURG, SIEGE OF

PETERSBURG, SIEGE OF (1864–1865). Repulsed by the Confederate forces of Gen. Robert E. Lee at Cold Harbor (3 June 1864), Gen. Ulysses S. Grant decided to approach Richmond, Va., from the south, through Petersburg. Crossing the James River at Wyanoke Neck on 14 June, his leading corps attacked Petersburg on 15 June. After three days of fighting, the federal troops captured the eastern defenses. Lee's army then arrived, occupied a shorter line nearer the city, and turned away the last assaults.

While waging siege operations on the eastern front, Grant pushed his left flank southwestward to envelop Petersburg and cut the railways leading south. Defeated at the Battle of the Crater, 30 July, Union forces finally succeeded in cutting the Weldon Railroad in late August. In September Grant extended his right flank across the James and captured Fort Harrison, eight miles south of Richmond, compelling Lee to move much of his army north of the James. The Confederates retreated until Lee decisively halted Grant's advance on 27 October, and field operations virtually ceased during the winter.

Foreseeing that when spring came his attenuated line would be broken by superior numbers, Lee, on 25 March 1865, assaulted Fort Stedman. The attack failed and

Grant countered on 29 March by sending Gen. Philip Sheridan, with heavy cavalry and infantry forces, to Dinwiddie Courthouse to destroy the Southside Railroad. Initially defeated on 31 March by divisions led by Gen. George Edward Pickett, Sheridan received reinforcements and on 1 April routed Pickett at Five Forks, rendering the railroad indefensible. Lee evacuated Petersburg and Richmond on 2 April and retreated westward.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Davis, William C. Death in the Trenches: Grant at Petersburg. Alexandria, Va.: Time-Life Books, 1986.

Linderman, Gerald F. Embattled Courage: The Experience of Combat in the American Civil War. New York: Free Press, 1987.

Sommers, Richard J. Richmond Redeemed: The Siege at Petersburg. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1981.

Joseph Mills Hanson/A. R.

See also Civil War; Cold Harbor, Battle of; Richmond Campaigns.