Siege of Petersburg - Federal Attacks 18 June 1864

1864-06-18

The Second Battle of Petersburg, also known as the Assault on Petersburg, was fought June 15–18, 1864, at the beginning of the Richmond–Petersburg Campaign (popularly known as the Siege of Petersburg). Union forces under Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Major General George G. Meade attempted to capture Petersburg, Virginia, before Gen. Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia could reinforce the city. The four days included repeated Union assaults against substantially smaller forces commanded by Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard. Beauregard's strong defensive positions and poorly coordinated actions by the Union generals (notably Maj. Gen. William F. "Baldy" Smith, who squandered the best opportunity for success on June 15) made up for the disparity in the sizes of the armies. By June 18, the arrival of significant reinforcements from Lee's army made further assaults impractical. The failure of the Union to defeat the Confederates in these actions resulted in the start of the ten-month Siege of Petersburg.

Wikipedia: Second Battle of Petersburg