What was petersburg

Petersburg was the seventh largest city in the Confederate States of America, and the 49th largest in the United States. It was largely unaffected by Major General George B. Petersburg was not only an important Confederate manufacturing center, but five railroads converged on the city. Early in the war the city was recognized as a major transportation hub through which many of the supplies for the Army of Northern Virginia moved.

In , Captain Charles H. Dimmock arrived from Richmond to build earthen defenses around Petersburg. When they were completed the following year, the defenses, which became known as the Dimmock Line, included 55 batteries connected by lines of earthworks.

They began east of the city on the Appomattox River, extended around the south of the city, and ended on the Appomattox River west of the city. After his successful defense of Charleston, South Carolina, in April , Beauregard expected to command one of the two largest Confederate armies. This department included Virginia south of the James River. Meanwhile, back in Washington, Ulysses S. Grant was promoted to lieutenant general on March 9, Get inside articles from the world's premier publisher of history magazines.

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Subscribe and save! Batteries 3 through 8 also fall. Batteries 6 through 11 are captured by U. Colored Troops, commanded by Brig. Edward Hinks. Colonel Joseph Kiddoo, commanding the Twenty-second U. The Union Second Corps capture another section of the Confederate line. The Confederates lose Batteries 12 through The Union Ninth Corps gains more ground, but the fight is poorly coordinated. That night, Beauregard digs a new line of defense closer to Petersburg that meets up with the Dimmock Line at Battery 25, and Lee rushes reinforcements from other elements of the Army of Northern Virginia.

The men of the First Maine Heavy Artillery advance across a cornfield and straight into Confederate fire. Supporting units fail to protect their flanks.

Within ten minutes, men lay dead or wounded on the field. It is the largest regimental loss of the entire Civil War. With Confederate works now heavily manned, the opportunity to capture Petersburg without a siege is lost.

After four days of fighting with no success, Grant begins siege operations. As he attacks Petersburg, other Union troops simultaneously attack around Richmond, which strains the Confederacy to the breaking point.

During the 10 months of the siege, both armies endure skirmishing, mortar and artillery fire, poor rations, and intense boredom. Grant continues to order attacks and cut off rail lines. That evening, Grant evacuates Petersburg. Lee surrenders to Grant at Appomattox Court House a week later. Captain Charles Dimmock of the Confederate Corps of Engineers designed the impressive ten-mile trench line that stretched around Petersburg in a "U" shape and was anchored on the southern bank of the Appomattox River.

The fortifications held 55 artillery batteries and the walls reached as high as 40 feet in some areas. Work on the defense line began in the summer of Under the orders of Maj.

Daniel H. Hill, Dimmock used soldiers and enslaved laborers to execute the plan. Some enslaved people from Virginia's Eastern Shore and more than 1, from North Carolina dug the fortifications. But progress on the defenses was continually hampered by a shortage in manpower. Lee , engaged in a series of hard-fought battles in what is now called the Overland Campaign.

Cold Harbor was the last battle of this campaign and was a crushing Union loss. This forced Grant to abandoned his plan to capture Richmond by direct assault. The Key to Richmond Only twenty-five miles south of Richmond, Petersburg was an important supply center to the Confederate capital. With it's five railroad lines and key roads, both Grant and Lee knew if these could be cut Petersburg could no longer supply Richmond with much needed supplies and subsistence.

Without this Lee would be forced to leave both cities. For several days Lee does not believe Grant's main target is Petersburg and so keeps most of his army around Richmond. Between June , Grant throws his forces against Petersburg and it may have fallen if it were not for the Federal commanders failing to press their advantage and the defense put up by the few Confederates holding the lines.

Lee finally arrives on June 18 and after four days of combat with no success Grant begins siege operations.