THE SIEGE OF PETERSBURG
MARCH 1864 TO APRIL 2, 1865
In March 1863 President Lincoln appointed Lt. General U. S. Grant Commander-in-Chief of all of the armies of the United States. He was fresh from recent victories at Vicksburg and Chattanooga and the President felt that he was the "fighting General" he had been looking for the past four years and that he could find a way to stop the Confederate army and General Robert E. Lee.
General Grant lost no time, in May he sent his army across the Rappahannock and Rapidan Rivers on his march towards Richmond. General Lee knew about this and had moved his army near the Wilderness in direct line of the Union army. The Union army camped in and around the Wilderness and General Lee made his move before daylight next day. (See Battle of Wilderness for details). It was a vicious and costly two day battle; killed, wounded, and missing were 37,757 for Union and 11,400 for Confederates.
General Grant did not withdraw his troops like the other generals had done, he executed a left flank movement and tried to get between General Lee's army and Richmond, but found General Lee had also moved his army and was waiting for the Union forces five days later at Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia.
The two armies clashed again in a vicious battle, General Lee being pretty well dug in and caused the Union to suffer staggering losses, killed, wounded and missing, Union 26,461, Confederates 9,000.
The Union army was well aware of the price they were paying, but they were destroying General Lee's ability to wage offensive war. They were able to get replacement daily and were to lose more men in May and June of 1864 than General Lee had in his whole army.
General Grant executed another left flank movement and made it to the outskirts of Richmond, but was stopped at Cold Harbor. General Lee had gotten to Cold Harbor, the battlefield of last year's fighting, and had gotten in his defensive position to try to stop the Union army. The Union army suffered heavy losses, killed, wounded and missing; for Union army 14,931, Confederate 1,700.
This was in early June of 1864 and these battles had finally convinced Federal officers that well-selected, well-manned entrenchments, adequately supported by artillery were practically impregnable to frontal assaults. These battles changed the course of the war from a war of maneuvers to a war of siege.
General Grant decided not to make battle as General Lee was much too strong in his defenses around Richmond, but to string out his army from Richmond to Petersburg, a distance of twenty-three miles and cut all lines of communications north of the James River and to capture all five of the railroads leading into Petersburg to stop all supplies and at the same time strike the Confederate forces at every opportunity as General Lee would have to stretch his forces those twenty-three miles also to hold him in tow.
On June 7 General Phil Sheridan's army from the Shenandoah Valley joined Grant's army and was sent west to raid Charlottesville and disrupt Confederate communications. Lee was forced to send Wade Hampton's cavalry after Sheridan, leaving him no one for reconnaissance, as General J. E. B. Stuart had been killed May 11 at Yellow Tavern, a Richmond suburb, stopping Sheridan's Union cavalry from entering Richmond proper.
From this time on the war was to go against the Confederate army. On June 13th General Grant ordered a push on all fronts, battles were fought at Savage's Station, Malvern Hill, Harrison's Landing, Bermuda Hundred, Five Forks and etc. Each battle fought had taken a toll of his men and supplies. He now faced winter with his men half starving and freezing in the filthy trenches. Death, disease and desertion were slowing destroying the once proud army of Northern Virginia.
Grant did not let up even in the dead of winter; he wanted to keep Lee off balance. Infantry and cavalry assaults were made daily and all five railroad lines were now in Union hands. The strong forts of forts Gregg and Waitworth were over run and in Union hands.
On April 2, 1865 General Lee telegraphed Jefferson Davis. "I advise that all preparations be made for leaving Richmond tonight". Now General Lee had only one escape route left and he ordered his entire force to march and assemble at Amelia Court House. The ten months of siege of Richmond and Petersburg were over. During this period Federals suffered approximately 42,000 casualties, the Confederates about 28,000 not counting desertions.