Talk: The Siege of Petersburg

Article:  The Siege of Petersburg  

Results:  After nearly ten months of siege, the loss at Fort Stedman was a devastating blow for Lee's army, setting up the Confederate defeat at Five Forks on April 1, the Union breakthrough at Petersburg on April 2, the surrender of the city of Petersburg at dawn on April 3, and Richmond that same evening.

After his victory at Five Forks, Grant ordered an assault along the entire Confederate line beginning at dawn on April 2. Parke's IX Corps overran the eastern trenches but were met with stiff resistance. At 5:30 a.m. on April 2, Wright's VI Corps made a decisive breakthrough along the Boydton Plank Road line. While riding between the lines to rally his men, A.P. Hill was shot and killed by two Union soldiers. Wright's initial breakthrough was halted mid-day at Fort Gregg. Gibbon's XXIV Corps overran Fort Gregg after a heroic Confederate defense. This halt in the advance into the city of Petersburg allowed Lee to pull his forces out of Petersburg and Richmond on the night of April 2, and head for the west in an attempt to meet up with forces under the command of General Joseph E. Johnston in North Carolina. The resulting Appomattox Campaign led to Lee's surrender on April 9 at Appomattox Court House.

Richmond–Petersburg was a costly campaign for both sides. The initial assaults on Petersburg in June 1864 cost the Union 11,386 casualties, to approximately 4,000 for the Confederate defenders. The casualties for the siege warfare that concluded with the assault on Fort Stedman are estimated to be 42,000 for the Union, and 28,000 for the Confederates.

An election year cartoon measuring Democratic candidate McClellan's military failures against the recent successes of his successor, Ulysses S. Grant.  At right Grant, portrayed as a bulldog wearing a collar labeled "Lieut. General" and epaulets, sits pugnaciously on the tracks of the "Weldon Railroad," a Confederate supply route.  He looks to Republican presidential incumbent Abraham Lincoln and boasts, "I'm bound to take it."  Grant refers to the city of Richmond, here represented by a doghouse, in which cowers Confederate president Jefferson Davis.  Davis, flanked by his own generals Lee (left) and Beauregard, remarks, "You aint got this kennel yet old fellow!"  Several other dogs hide behind the house.  At far left a dwarf-like McClellan asks the president, ". . . don't you think you had better call the old dog off now. I'm afraid he'll hurt those other dogs, if he catches hold of them."  Lincoln answers, "Why little Mac thats the same pack of curs, that chased you aboard of the Gunboat two years ago, they are pretty nearly used up now. I think its best to give the old bull dog full swing to go in and finish them!"  Lincoln refers to McClellan's failure to counterattack during the Battle of Malvern Hill in 1862.  In contrast, Grant aggressively advanced his army toward Richmond, hoping to force a decisive battle.