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PETERSBURG CAMPAIGN (1864-65)
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See also:PETERSBURG See also:CAMPAIGN (1864-65) . The name of See also:Peters-See also:burg is associated with operations in the See also:American See also:Civil See also:War, which formed the sequel of the See also:Wilderness Campaign (q.v.) and the last See also:act in the struggle between the armies of See also: On the 18th of June the attack was renewed with three corps (II., V., IX.) See also:late in the afternoon, and the results of the four days' fighting were so far satisfactory that ground was won which could be entrenched and held against any sortie of the Petersburg See also:garrison. Probably on the 18th of June the See also:town of Petersburg might have been captured by Meade, for at this crisis General Lee was in temporary See also:eclipse. For four days Lee had refused to See also:credit any See also:report to the effect that Grant was See also:crossing the James: his cavalry could not ascertain that the enemy in hisfront at See also:Malvern See also: By the end of June the whole of the See also:rival forces were concentrated about the Richmond-Petersburg defences, and General A. P. Hill had already sallied out on the 21st of June to drive the II. corps from the Weldon railroad. Federal policy and Federal See also:strategy, surmounting the crisis of Cold Harbor, were, however, at last in unison. Grant had a See also:free See also:hand in respect both of his dispositions and his resources in men and See also:money, and had resolved to use unsparingly the resources placed at his disposal. Early in See also:July Grant, however, found himself compelled to detach a corps (VI.) to strengthen the garrison at See also:Washington, for General Early had frustrated See also:Hunter's attempt against Lynchburg (see See also:SHENANDOAH VALLEY), See also:driving Hunter into See also:West Virginia, and then, pushing down the Shenandoah and across the Potomac, had arrived within a day's See also: In See also:August Sheridan was detached to operate against General Early in the Shenandoah Valley, and in See also:order to prevent Lee See also:rein-forcing Early another demonstration against Richmond was planned. But Lee again strengthened his See also:left and the result of the fighting was a loss to the Federals of nearly 3000 men. Meanwhile another attack on the Weldon railroad by Warren's corps was met by General A. P. Hill on the loth of August, and the See also:possession of the railroad cost the Federals 3000 men. A further attempt on this railroad by Hancock's II. corps and Gregg's cavalry division at a point 3 M. south of Ream's Station was foiled by A. P. Hill, now aided by See also:Hampton's two cavalry divisions, and the Federals here lost 2372 men and nine guns. The Confederates therefore still retained possession of the railroad to a point within one day's hauling by See also:wagon to Petersburg. During See also:September another Federal enter-prise north of the James with two corps (X.and XVIII.) resulted in the capture of Fort See also:Harrison near Chaffin's See also:Bluff, and when General Lee reinforced his left and counter-attacked his troops were repulsed with heavy loss. The Federals lost over 2000 men and failed in the attempt to take Fort Gilmer, Confederate gunboats below Richmond aiding in the defence. While this operation was in progress on the Confederate left under General Grant's See also:personal supervision General Lee was apprised of attacks on his extreme right at See also:Peebles See also:Farm by four divisions, which captured a Confederate See also:redoubt covering the junction of two routes to the south-west. General A. P. Hill prevented a further advance of the enemy by a vigorous counter-attack which caused Warren and Parke (IX.) a loss of 2000 men, of whom nearly three fourths allowed themselves to be captured ; for the ranks, since the losses of the May battles, had been swamped with drafted and substitute recruits of poor quality and almost insignificant training. The Federals had, however, by these operations pushed their entrenchments beyond the Weldon railroad westward and established new works within a mile of the See also:Con-federate right. A See also:minor engagement north of the James on the 7th of See also:October between the Confederates and troops of the Army of the James was without result. At the end of the See also:month, however, General Grant resolved to make a serious effort to bring the South Side railroad within his lines and deprive the enemy of this important line of supply. Parke (IX.), Warren (V.) and Hancock (II.) took each some 11,000 infantry with four days' rations on See also:pack animals. Gregg's cavalry (3000) were attached for the operation, and both Grant and Meade accompanied the troops. General A. P. Hill encountered this force with three divisions (14,000) and Hampton's cavalry (5500), and he contrived to hold two corps with one division and attack Hancock (II.) with his main body. The Federals were stopped when 6 m. from the railway, and Hancock lost 1500 men at Hatcher's Run on the 27th of October.See also:trench-work and outpost See also:duty overtaxed the patriotism of Lee's 50,000 infantry and stimulated See also:desertion. Supplies were brought in by wagons, as the See also:rolling stock on the See also:railways was worn, and on the 5th of See also:February 1865 General Gregg moved out to the Boydton Plank road to intercept the Confederate convoys. He was sup-ported by Warren, while See also:Humphreys's (II.) corps connected the detachment with the left of the Federal entrenchments. Gregg failed to locate the wagons, and General Lee, See also:hearing of the expedition, sent out A. P. Hill and See also:Gordon, who drove him back with a loss of 1500 men. Sheridan, after driving Early from the Valley in October, destroyed the railways about See also:Staunton, See also:Charlottesville, Gordonsville and Lynchburg, and even rendered the James Canal useless as a line of supply. Grant recalled Sheridan to the main army in March, and at the end of the month prepared for a turning movement westward with the See also:object of See also:drawing Lee out of his lines. General Lee had anticipated such an attempt, and had resolved to abandon his lines and unite with See also:Johnston in North Carolina, but the roads were not General Lee meanwhile had been called to Chaffin's Bluff, where again Butler was demonstrating with the Army of the James (X. and XVIII.) on the approaches to Richmond. But General See also:Longstreet signalized his return to duty with the Army of See also:Northern Virginia by driving Butler off with a loss of over moo men (See also:action .<e<r a Petersburgr of See also:Fair Oaks, Oct. 27). General , t1 t.~See also:ea, Warren in See also:December con- trived to evade A. P. Hill and destroy the Weldon rail-road at a point on the Meherrin river 40 _m. from Petersburg.
There seemed now little to tie Lee to the lines he had so painfully constructed, for his army was without See also:coffee, See also:tea or See also:sugar, and though of See also:foreign See also:meat they had 3J million rations and of See also:bread 21 million rations in reserve, the troops lived chiefly on See also:corn-bread. A. P. Hill on the right held on from Hatcher's Run to Fort Gregg, whence Gordon and See also: Meanwhile, 6 m. west-See also: F. Lee and Rosser on the south side of Stony See also:Creek. Warren's corps, moving up the Quaker road, met a force under R. H. Anderson and drove it back to its works on White Oak road. Sheridan got into a See also:flat See also:country of dense See also:forest, tangled undergrowth, streams and swamps, and the See also:soil of See also:clay and See also:sand was impassable for wagons and guns until he had corduroyed the route. On the 29th of March General Lee perceived that the object of Grant was to seize the routes south of the Appomattox river, by which a movement south-west could be made to unite with Johnston's army, and he endeavoured to cover these roads, including the South Side railway, without losing his hold upon his works about Richmond and Petersburg, but in such a contest it was evident that See also:numbers must prevail. Sheridan's cavalry had reached Five Forks on the White Oak road on the 31st of March, and on his right Humphreys and Warren (II. and V.) held the Confederates to their works along Hatcher's Run astride the Boydton Plank road; yet General Lee was able to concentrate his three cavalry divisions, and supported them by Pickett's five infantry brigades. Sheridan was attacked and driven south as far as Dinwiddie Court-House; but Humphreys and Warren held their ground (action of White Oak See also:Ridge) at a cost of 2000 men. Pickett and the cavalry fell back to Five Forks during the night and hastily entrenched, for he had been ordered by General Lee to defend this position; since the Boydton Plank road could no longer be held, the possession of White Oak road and the South Side railway became necessary for the flank movement which Leehad resolved to attempt. Grant meanwhile had ordered Warren to support Sheridan in an attack on Pickett at daybreak. Sheridan advanced on the 1st of See also:April and at 3 p.m. issued his orders for attack, explaining verbally a See also:diagram he had prepared for the use of divisional commanders. Pickett held a front of 2 M. with a division of cavalry on either flank and Rosser's cavalry guarding the baggage behind Hatcher's Run, and when attacked at 4 p.m. he was with Rosser 11 m. in rear. Before Pickett was made aware of a See also:battle being in progress his left was destroyed. General Lee seems to have made no arrangements to support Pickett in this direction. Pickett's right was defended by W. H. F. Lee against the attack of See also:Custer's cavalry division. The position was finally carried by Sheridan's cavalry under Devin dismounting and storming the entrenchments frontally, taking three guns and See also:loo prisoners. Warren's corps claimed to have captured a See also:battery and 3244 prisoners. Yet Sheridan was dissatisfied with Warren's conduct of the battle and deprived him of his command. Pickett's routed brigades were rallied at the South Side railroad and incorporated with General Anderson's command. But the Confederates had lost White Oak road, and unless General Lee was capable of a vigorous counterstroke on his extreme right it was evident he must also lose the South Side railroad. Grant, fearing such an enterprise, at once reinforced Sheridan and ordered Humphreys' corps (II.) to attack in his front if necessary to prevent Lee moving troops . smerrm.iter westward, but Lee made no effort, and so Sheridan was free to operate farther in the direction of the enemy's right and rear, while Humphreys held the enemy in his front. Sheridan remained in-active for a few days, and Lee hoped still to gain time for the roads to dry before evacuating his lines and removing his stores and See also:ammunition by wagons towards Lynchburg. But a crisis was approaching. Sheridan's success at Five Forks induced Grant to deliver a general assault on the 2nd of April. The Confederate lines were bombarded all night, and on the 2nd of April with See also:Wright's corps (VI.), Grant attacked the weakest part of Lee's line and broke through, losing I too men in fifteen minutes. A. P. Hill was killed and his corps broke and was cut off from Peters-burg. At the same time Parke's corps (IX.), on the right of the VI., attacked the eastern front near Fort Stedman but was repulsed by General Gordon; then Humphreys' corps (II.) on the left attacked a Confederate division under General See also:Cook and forced it to See also:retreat to the South Side railroad, where at Sutherland Station a final attack dispersed it. Wright, supported by General Ord (commanding the army of the James), afterwards won the strong redoubts called Fort See also:Whitworth and Fort Gregg, and thus in a day the Confederate right had been destroyed from Five Forks to a point some two or three miles west of the Weldon railroad; to m. of works had been abandoned, and if Grant had been able to See also:press his See also:advantage at once the campaign must have ended. But Grant was not aware of the enemy's See also:plight, and so resolved to wait until the morrow before completing his victory. Meanwhile Lee perceived that the See also:hour had come at last when Richmond must fall, and at 3 p.m. he had issued orders for the march of the remains of his army to Lynchburg via Amelia Court-House, a march which evidently must partake of the See also:character of a forlorn See also:hope, hastily planned, See also:ill prepared and undertaken by troops whom the disasters and hardships of the past six months had weakened physically and morally. Yet if General Lee had negotiated a See also:peace on the 2nd of April military See also:history would have lost one of the finest examples of the strategic pursuit. Lee's proposed movement involved the See also:transfer of the army and its baggage 100 m. on See also:bad roads across the front of an enemy, and nothing but mischance could prevent the Federals intercepting Lee's columns by a shorter route and seizing the South Side railroad, on which supplies were to be forwarded from Lynchburg to meet the retreating army at Appomattox Station, Pamplin's Station or Farmville Station. The Appomattox River must be crossed two or three times at its bends. Various creeks and swamps must be bridged, and the See also:bridges destroyed after crossing. The wagons must move on See also:separate roads so as to be covered by the columns during See also:marches and combats and the infantry were to follow the artillery on the roads. Long-street, Gordon and Mahone's division from Richmond all crossed the Appomattox at Goode's See also:Bridge. See also:Ewell from Richmond crossed the Appomattox by the Danville railroad bridge north of Goode's Bridge. Anderson commanded the flank guard which moved south of the Appomattox with Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry. Lee gained a day's start by moving at 8 p.m., for Grant was making preparations to attack the entrenchments next day (April 3), but the start was lost in waiting for President Davis and the See also:government to See also:escape from Richmond. Sheridan's cavalry got in See also:touch with Lee's flank-guard early on the 3rd of April near Namozine Creek, and at nightfall the Federal advance-guard was at Deep Creek. On the 4th of April Sheridan reached the Danville railroad at Jetersville, and on the 5th of April, when Lee had halted at Amelia Court-House on the railroad to get supplies, the Federals had three corps (II., V., VI.) in support of Sheridan 8 m. nearer than Lee to Sailor's Creek, the point where he must again See also:cross the Appomattox. Interception was now a fait accompli, though neither side suspected it. Lee was unaware of the enemy's proximity, and Grant believed that Lee would remain at Amelia Court-House, but Lee moved west, crossing Flat Creek at sunset on the 5th of April, to the Lynchburg railroad (Longstreet, marching all night, reached See also:Rice's Station at sunrise on the 6th of April). while the Federals moved northwards on the same day to attack Lee at Amelia Court-House, and on discovering Lee's evasion the three Federal corps effected a See also:wheel to the left and advanced on Deatonsville after bridging Flat Creek. Meanwhile the Federal cavalry under H. E. See also:Davies had located a convoy at Painesville, dispersed its escort (See also:Gary's cavalry) and burned the wagons, but had in turn been attacked by Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry at Amelia Springs and driven back on the main body at Flat Creek. Fitzhugh Lee had then marched to join Longstreet at Rice's Station. The rearguard of Lee's army was Gordon's command, which was at Amelia Springs after Ewell's command had passed through at 8 a.m. on the 6th of April. Lee's army stretched out for 15 m., and when its advance-guard was at Rice's Station its rearguard was still at Amelia Court-House. Rice's Station is 62 in. from See also:Lynch-burg. Here Longstreet waited all day for Anderson, Ewell and Gordon to close up, and then at night he moved 8 m. to Farmville Station (68 in. south-west of Richmond), where 8o,000 rations had been railed from Lynchburg; then Longstreet crossed the Appomattox, and on the 7th of April moved forward towards Lynchburg, covered by Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry. Meanwhile the See also:remainder of Lee's army had been practically destroyed within a few miles of the point where Longstreet had halted. Sheridan's cavalry and two corps (II., VI.) had caught the commands of Anderson, Ewell and Gordon, entangled with the trains of the army attempting the passage of Sailor's Creek; and General Ord would even have attacked Long-street (whom he had located late at night) had his march been delayed. Complete disorganization and demoralization seem to have taken hold of the Confederates on this fatal day, and General Lee was once more in eclipse. The Federal cavalry headed the See also:column, the infantry attacked it, and Ewell became the victim of See also:tactical envelopment after Anderson had been defeated and Gordon had failed to save the trains of the army. Surrender or See also:massacre being the alternatives, Ewell surrendered, and here in fact the career of the army of Northern Virginia ended, as Grant plainly saw, for at 5.30 p.m. he addressed a demand to Lee for his capitulation. But Lee clung to his diminished forces for another 48 See also:hours. Long-street in crossing at Farmville had burnt the bridges and thus delayed Ord in pursuit; but Gordon and Mahone, who had crossed at High Bridge (the railroad bridge), failed to check Humphreys' corps (II.), and so were compelled to take up a position of defence on the north See also:bank until darkness enabled them to slip away. General Lee was with this remnant of the army. Meanwhile Sheridan with the cavalry and two corps (V., See also:XXIV.) had hastened along the South Side railroad, seizing.the supplies waiting for Lee at Pamplin's Station, and then moving on another 12 in. to Appomattox Station. At nightfall he found that he was astride the enemy's line of operation, which was also his line of supply, and so General Lee would be compelled to give battle or capitulate on the morrow. General Lee, quitting Farmville heights on the night of the 7th of April changed the order of march during the next day, so that Gordon (8000) was in the See also:van and Longstreet (15,000) furnished the rear-guard: Ewell's corps was now represented by 300 effectives. The cavalry still numbered some 1600 sabres. Lee's column was pursued along the Lynchburg Road by two Federal Corps (II., VI.), which marched 26 m. in 181 hours, and at midnight halted within 3 in. of Longstreet, who had entrenched near Appomattox Court-House, facing east and covering the road on which Gordon's corps and the cavalry was to press forward to Lynchburg at daylight. But Gordon on the See also:morning of the 9th of April found Sheridan's cavalry in his front, and in accordance with plans made overnight he commenced an attack, driving the Federals back until he encounteredat lo a.m. two corps of infantry (V., XXIV.) under General Ord, who had marched 29 M. in order to support Sheridan at the crisis; and when at the same moment Longstreet was threatened by Humphreys and Wright (II., VI.) the situation had arisen which General Lee considered would justify surrender, an event which had been anticipated on both sides as the result of the fighting about Farmville on the 6th and 7th of April. The closing operations from the 29th of March to the 9th of April were all in favour of the Federals, but, nevertheless, the historian See also:counts their losses during this See also:period as nearly 1o,000 in the five corps and cavalry which constituted General Grant's field army. On the 9th of April, at the Appomattox Court-House, the two leaders exchanged formal documents by which 2862 See also:officers and 25,494 enlisted men were paroled, all that remained in the field of some 55,000 Confederates who were drawing rations on the 20th of February as the army of Northern Virginia. (G. W. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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