Siege of Petersburg

Answer 1

The US Civil War Siege of Petersburg lasted from June 15, 1864 to April 2, 1865. Ulysses S. Grant's northern armies (the Army of the Potomac and the Army of the James) launched nine offensives against Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and assorted troops from the Department of Southern Virginia and North Carolina. Lee's Confederate troops were defending the cities of Richmond and Petersburg.

Richmond, as the capital of the Confederacy, was an incredibly important symbol of the Confederacy. Petersburg, 20 miles south, supplied Richmond through several railroads coming in from other parts of the South.

Interestingly, the Siege of Petersburg was not a true siege because the Union army never completely encircled Lee's Confederates, who could and ultimately did leave to the west when Lee's lines were irreparably broken on April 2, 1865.

Over 50,000 Union soldiers and 32,000 Confederate soldiers were casualties in the nine month campaign.

Answer 2

Marching from Cold Harbor, Meade's Army of the Potomac crossed the James River on transports and a 2,200-foot long pontoon bridge at Windmill Point. Butler's leading elements (XVIII Corps and Kautz's cavalry) crossed the Appomattox River at Broadway Landing and attacked the Petersburg defenses on June 15. The 5,400 defenders of Petersburg under command of Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard were driven from their first line of entrenchments back to Harrison Creek. After dark the XVIII Corps was relieved by the II Corps. On June 16, the II Corps captured another section of the Confederate line; on the 17th, the IX Corps gained more ground. Beauregard stripped the Howlett Line (Bermuda Hundred) to defend the city, and Lee rushed reinforcements to Petersburg from the Army of Northern Virginia. The II, XI, and V Corps from right to left attacked on June 18 but was repulsed with heavy casualties. By now the Confederate works were heavily manned and the greatest opportunity to capture Petersburg without a siege was lost. The siege of Petersburg began. Union Gen. James St. Clair Morton, chief engineer of the IX Corps, was killed on June 17.

Answer 3

Since the beginning of the US Civil War, repeated attempts by the Union to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond met with multiple failures. Late in the war, the Union strategy to take down Richmond, was to capture the Virginia city of Petersburg.

Petersburg was an important railway hub from which Richmond was supplied. Its location was approximately 25 miles south of Richmond. As was Richmond, Petersburg was well fortified and Union General Grant failed in his assaults. Since that wasn't working, Grant decided to lay siege to Petersburg and once it fell, the city of Richmond was in dire straits. Finally after a 10 month siege, Southern general Lee finally yielded to the pressure and evacuated his armies from both Richmond and Petersburg.

Answer 4

Petersburg is in the state of Virginia, about 20 miles south of Richmond.