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Battle of Petersburg II
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Second Battle of Petersburg | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of American Civil War | |||||||
|
|||||||
| Combatants | |||||||
| United States of America | Confederate States of America | ||||||
| Commanders | |||||||
| Ulysses S. Grant George G. Meade |
Robert E. Lee P.G.T. Beauregard |
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| Strength | |||||||
| 62,000 | 42,000 | ||||||
| Casualties | |||||||
| 8,150 | 3,236 | ||||||
The Second Battle of Petersburg, also known as the Assault on Petersburg, was the major attempt by the Union Army to take Petersburg, Virginia, before the main Confederate Army could reinforce the city. The failure of the Union to defeat the Confederates in these actions resulted in the start of the ten-month Siege of Petersburg.
After the Battle of Cold Harbor in Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Overland Campaign, the Union Army slipped away from Robert E. Lee and began crossing the James River. The advance unit was the XVIII Corps under William F. "Baldy" Smith, who had just finished the unsuccessful Bermuda Hundred Campaign under Benjamin Butler. The city was lightly defended by roughly 4,500 soldiers under P.G.T. Beauregard, but Smith waited too long before launching his assault. By the time he did, reinforcements from Lee were marching into the city. When Smith finally did attack he drove the Confederates from their first line of trenches. On June 16, Winfield Scott Hancock with the II Corps reinforced Smith and captured another line of trenches. Reinforced by the IX Corps, the Union Army captured a third line of trenches as Beauregard pulled troops from Bermuda Hundred. The Federals failed to press their advantage and more of Lee's reinforcements were rushing to the defense. Despite being reinforced by the V Corps, the Union attacks on June 18 were repulsed with severe losses. Colonel Joshua L. Chamberlain, commanding a brigade in the V Corps, participated in the June 18 assault and was wounded so severely his name appeared in newspaper obituaries. Chamberlain survived the wound and returned to command his brigade as a brigadier general, promoted in the field personally by Grant for his bravery.
The Union assaults continued on through June 17 and June 18, but to no avail. Grant arrived and suspended the assaults. The chance to take Petersburg was lost, but the Confederate army was unable to prevent the Union army from laying siege to the city. The siege would last until April 1865.