Petersburg: Great Battlefields of the Civil War
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Synopsis
Petersburg is the story of, and a practical guide, to the great siege of Petersburg that lasted from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865. The siege consisted of nine months of trench warfare with the Union forces commanded by Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and the Confederate defenders by General Robert E. Lee. For several months, Grant unsuccessfully assaulted the Petersburg defensive line - a complicated network of trenches that eventually extended for almost 30 miles from the eastern outskirts of the city of Richmond, Virginia, to around the eastern and southern outskirts of Petersburg. Finally, as the pressure increased, and resources dwindled, Lee began to give way and finally abandoned both Petersburg and Richmond, leading to his retreat and surrender at Appomattox Court House on April 9 1865.
Petersburg was crucial to the supply of Lee's army and the Confederate capital of Richmond. Dozens of individual raids were conducted and battles fought in attempts to cut the railroad supply lines through Petersburg into Richmond, and many of these caused the lengthening of the trench lines, overloading dwindling Confederate resources.
By June 1864, the War Between the States had been raging back and forth for more than three years, and no end was in sight. True, Vicksburg, Gettysburg, and Chattanooga had all fallen to Union force of arms, and General Sherman was at the gates of Atlanta, but the Confederacy was far from beaten; General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia was intact, Richmond had not fallen to the Union, and the war in Virginia had reached a stalemate. The siege of Petersburg ended all of that. During the 10 months of fighting around the city, Grant had suffered some 42,000 casualties, Lee more than 28,000, including one of his greatest commanders, Lieutenant General A.P. Hill. The once great Army of Northern Virginia was slowly dying; the end was less than 10 days away.
This book, illustrated by modern and period photographs, tells the story of those ten months.
Petersburg was crucial to the supply of Lee's army and the Confederate capital of Richmond. Dozens of individual raids were conducted and battles fought in attempts to cut the railroad supply lines through Petersburg into Richmond, and many of these caused the lengthening of the trench lines, overloading dwindling Confederate resources.
By June 1864, the War Between the States had been raging back and forth for more than three years, and no end was in sight. True, Vicksburg, Gettysburg, and Chattanooga had all fallen to Union force of arms, and General Sherman was at the gates of Atlanta, but the Confederacy was far from beaten; General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia was intact, Richmond had not fallen to the Union, and the war in Virginia had reached a stalemate. The siege of Petersburg ended all of that. During the 10 months of fighting around the city, Grant had suffered some 42,000 casualties, Lee more than 28,000, including one of his greatest commanders, Lieutenant General A.P. Hill. The once great Army of Northern Virginia was slowly dying; the end was less than 10 days away.
This book, illustrated by modern and period photographs, tells the story of those ten months.
Release date: January 1, 2015
Print pages: 39
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