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Assault on Petersburg

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Title
Assault on Petersburg
Description
Union forces under Brig. Gen. Smith, attempted to capture Petersburg, Virginia. The Confederates, under the overall command of Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard, numbered only 2,500. Union General Smith and his men crossed the Appomattox shortly after dawn on June 15. Two …
Subject
Publisher
Date
1864-06-15
Scenario#
58
Scenario Description
Union forces under Brig. Gen. Smith, attempted to capture Petersburg, Virginia. The Confederates, under the overall command of Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard, numbered only 2,500. Union General Smith and his men crossed the Appomattox shortly after dawn on June 15. Two attacks on the Confederates captured a cannon, but the overall advance was delayed until early afternoon. Smith planned to carry the defensive works with a strong skirmish line. The Union reached the right flank of the Confederate line around noon. The Confederates bombarded with artillery and the Union were stopped.
Location
Petersburg, Virginia
Battle Name
Battle Narrative
The Richmond–Petersburg Campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 15, 1864, to April 2, 1865,[5] during the American Civil War. Although it is more popularly known as the Siege of Petersburg, it was not a classic military siege, in which a city is usually surrounded and all supply lines are cut off, nor was it strictly limited to actions against Petersburg. The campaign consisted of nine months of trench warfare in which Union forces commanded by Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant assaulted Petersburg unsuccessfully and then constructed trench lines that eventually extended over 30 miles (48 km) from the eastern outskirts of Richmond, Virginia, to around the eastern and southern outskirts of Petersburg. Petersburg was crucial to the supply of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's army and the Confederate capital of Richmond. Numerous raids were conducted and battles fought in attempts to cut off the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad. Many of these battles caused the lengthening of the trench lines. Lee finally gave in to the pressure and abandoned both cities in April 1865, leading to his retreat and surrender at Appomattox Court House. The siege of Petersburg foreshadowed the trench warfare that was common in World War I, earning it a prominent position in military history. It also featured the war's largest concentration of African-American troops, who suffered heavy casualties at such engagements as the Battle of the Crater and Chaffin's Farm.
Narrative Source
Combatants
the Confederacy
the Union

Geolocation