Military key moments

Question 1

Attack on Fort Sumter, April 11th, 1861

Answer 1

INDECISIVE BATTLE IN LOWER SEABOARD THEATRE

Context:
- Fort Sumter was a key sea fort in Charleston, S. Carolina, defending the bay which gives access to Charleston Town

Lead up:
- Confederate forces surrounding harbour

• Debate in Lincoln’s cabinet as to what to do. Seward/Scott wanted to give up the fort as a goodwill gesture, and the Union didn’t have the 25 000 needed to defend it

–> Decided that, by a plan devised by General Gustavus V. Fox and modified by Lincoln, food would be sent across to troops. If South attacked food boat they would be seen as aggressive

• Notice on April 6th that should the food boat go through, no attempt to furnish troops would happen without notice except if the fort was attacked

—> Davis, cabinet meeting on 9th decides war before boat arrived

Events of Conflict:

• Confederates open fire April 12th, 4:30 am
• Fox’s fleet powerless to intervene due to bad weather
• 33 hours of attack, fort surrenders

Consequences of Conflict:
- Lincoln calls for 75 000 militiamen to tackle insurrection on April 15th
- Caused polarisation:
Stephen Douglas: ‘there can be no neutrals in this war, onlu patriots - or traitors’
- Upper South had to assert its position

Factors affecting outcome:

• Leadership: Seward independently contacted Confederate officials to say the fort would be yielded. Contradicted Lincoln’s inaugural promise to protect and hold federal property
• Resources: Sumter low on supplies before attack, but Lincoln didn’t want to engage to deliver supplies lest he start a war
• Individuals: Lincoln - Backlash from public and inaugural promises ‘hardened Lincoln’s resolve’ to defend it

Question 2

Battle of First Manassas or Bull Run, July 21st 1861

Answer 2

CONFEDERATE VICTORY IN MAIN EASTERN THEATRE

• Context*:
• Manassas was close to Washington
• Lincoln believed defeating a Confederate force would ‘discredit’ secessionists sufficiently without irreversibly damaging South (and the chance of reconstruction)
• Lead-up*:
• 35 000 Union troops near Washington had formed under General Irvin McDowell
• 20 000 Confederates led by Pierre G. T. Beauregard defending the Manassas junction to the SW of Washington
• Plan dependent on the Gen Pattersons 18 000 stationed to North West preventing Johnston’s 12 000

Events of Conflict:
- Confederate troops positioned along Bull Run
- McDowell attacks first
- northern forces gain ground, Confederates pushed up Henry House Hill
- At this point, McDowell was on the edge of a success
…
- Johnston and Beauregard arrive, rally troops, bring reinforcements on Confederate left
- Thomas J. Jackson becomes ‘stonewall’ Jackson when he halts the Union advances with his Brigade
- Reinforcements arrive, Beauregard orders counter-attack, Union retreats –> Confederate victory

• Consequences of Conflict*:
• ‘Would have important psychological consequences for the North and the South’
• 625 dead on each side
• 1200 Union soldiers captured
• Postponed further attempts to invade Virginia
• Factors affecting outcome*:
• Individuals: Patterson, assuming outnumbered, fails to hold back Johnston’s
• Leadership: ‘lack of experience prevented Northern officers from coordinating simultaneous assaults by different regiments’; McDowell fails to mobilise reserves, Johnston and Beauregard mobilise all their reserves
• Intelligence: Beauregard new McDowell was advancing in advance due to Washington spy
• Speed: McDowell moved so slowly into position that Johnston’s troops could reinforce Beauregard
• Uniforms: Union guns mistook one of Jackson’s units for a friendly, ceased fire and were wiped out

Question 3

U.S. Grant takes Fort Henry, February 6th 1862

Answer 3

UNION VICTORY IN THE MAIN WESTERN THEATRE

Context:

• Fort Henry was considered to be the achilles heel of Johnston’s Western Military Line
• Positioned low in a valley surrounded by hills and prone to flooding, ill-defended

Events:

• 15 000 troops landed nearby, attacked rear of fort, boats attacked from the river
• Fort’s lower level had flooded, meaning fewer of its guns could fire
• Commander of the fort sends 2 500 to ft Donelson, one company remains to operate cannons
• Company hold for 2 hours, then surrenders to Grant

Consequences:
- Allows Union gunboats to continue 150 miles upstream, capturing nine vessels

Factors affecting outcome:

• Weather
• Leadership: Johnston had not adequately defended the fort, assuming that an attack would come nearby at Columbus or Bowling Green

Question 4

US Grant takes Fort Donelson, Feb 16th 1862

Answer 4

UNION VICTORY IN MAIN WESTERN THEATRE

Context:

• Fort Henry had been captured, Fort Doneslon was where the men had retreated to
• Bad weather gave Johnston time to consider how to proceed before Grant could come to attack it
• Grant is between Johnston’s two forces, capable of attacking Columbus, Bowling Green or Donelson
• -> Decides to concentrate defence of Donelson

Lead up:
- Council places John Floyd in control of Donelson, whilst Johnston retreats to Nashville with 12 000
- Similar tactics to Fort Henry considered
- Grant orders reinforcements of more boats and 10 000 men (in addition to 15 000)
-
Events:
- Foote attacked from the water but brought boats too close, were destroyed by Confederate short-range guns
- Besieged on all sides, that night a council is called to decide Confederate strategy
- Try to break out the next morning, Union driven back over 1 mile.
- Pillow convinces Floyd that they could break out, but not outrun a Union flank attack
- Grant arrives, orders shell attack to assist ground troops in re-taking lost ground
- Commanders escape, Buckner in command surrenders with 12 000 men

Consequences:

• “the strategic consequences of this campaign were the most important of the war so far”
• 1/3 of Johnston’s forces out of action, remainder were divided between Nashville and Columbus with the enemy dividing them
• Nashville now threatened by Buell’s Ohio army, Columbus by John Pope’s
• -> Both captured, Kentucky and most of Tennessee captured

Question 5

USS Monitor vs Merrimack

Answer 5

DRAW IN THE MAIN EASTERN THEATRE

Context:

• The mouth of the James River at Hampton Roads was a key defensive position, the river leading up to Richmond )(Confederate Capital)
• This position was held by the Union navy as part of the Anaconda Plan (?)
• Merrimack (Known by Union as the Virginia) was the new Confederate Ironclad vessel

Fight:

• Merrimack sinks two vessels, taking significant but non-disabling flak
• Overnight, Monitor travels to the battleground
• First assumed to be a repair ship for the Minnesota, the Monitor fires on the Virginia
• 2 hours of shelling, attempted ramming
• Union captain wounded by shell, Virginia doesn’t want to be run aground –> retreats

Consequences:
- Hampton Roads fleet was saved

Factors affecting outcome:
- Technology

Question 6

Battle of Shiloh, April 6th-7th 1862.

Answer 6

UNION VICTORY IN THE MAIN WESTERN THEATRE

CONTEXT

• Grant’s Campaigns had been very successful at Fort Henry and Donelson, so the Union now held Tennessee
• Southern forces were heavily compromised; in retreat, the Confederate Army under Johnston faced a convergence of force from U.S. Grant and General Don Carlos Buell (with another 25 000 troops)
• Faced with this, Johnston seized the initiative and launched an attack before Buell could come and reinforce Grant

BATTLE

• Grant attacked at Shiloh church
• Defensive line, the ‘Hornet’s Nest’, and later further back at Pittsburg’s landing
• Johnston killed early in the fighting –> Replaced by Beauregard
• Beauregard pulls troops back from Pittsburg, things that Buell and his forces are a long way away
• Reinforcements arrive –> Beauregard pushed back

CONSEQUENCES:

• Bloodiest battle to date, set precedent for the size of further battles.
• 13 000 dead for union, 10 000 for Cf
• No longer seemed like the war would end quickly

Question 7

The Onset of the Shenandoah Valley Campaign, May-June 1862

Answer 7

CONFEDERATE VICTORY

Context:

• In May 1862, prospects for the Confederacy’s survival seemed bleak.’
• Loss of Mississippi valley, McClellan’s army was advancing on Richmond
• Jackson now had 17 000 in the Shenandoah Valley

Victories:

• May 8th, over Union force of approx 8,500
• May 23rd, front Royal
• May 25th, Winchester
• June 8th, Cross Keys
• June 9th, Port Republic
• Escape through Strasburg before Union army reaches them

Consequences:
- Lincoln diverts McDowell’s forces away from Richmond, and Fremonts away from the East Tennessee Campaign, to repel Jackson’s advances

Factors affecting outcome:

• Jackson’s leadership
• Intelligence: topographical work of Jedediah Hotchkiss, Jackson’s map maker; Jackson’s spies who knew the county well
• Strategy: Jackson had a sizeable force and consistently overwhelmed Union troops in those areas

Question 8

Seven Days Campaign under R. E Lee Jule 25th-July 1st

Answer 8

Takes control of the army of Virginia when Joseph E. Johnston is wounded.

-Drives McClellan’s invading army of the Potomac from Virginia

Initiates the Seven Days Battles
Final battle, Malvern Hill, saw disconnected advances with 5 500 killed
Number of fatalities in the Seven Days’ equal to casualties in entire Western Theatre in the first half of that year
‘Lee probably deserves his reputation as the war’s best tactician, but his success came at great cost
Army reshuffle
Two corps under Longstreet and Jackson
Weaker division commanders were transferred

Question 9

Second Battle of Bull Run/Second Mannasas August 28th-30th 1862

Answer 9

Second Battle of Bull Run/Second Mannasas August 28th-30th 1862
Pope, with the Army of the Potomac, was a few Miles from Jackson’s division. The rest of the Army of Northern Virginia was not far off
Pope, knowing Jackson’s position from a skirmish of the previous evening, assumed Jackson was retreating to meet Longstreet (actually, Longstreet was advancing to him). Forces troops to march through the night to ‘chase’ him on August 28th/29th. Before large force assembled, Pope attacks —>
Jackson’s line holds and counterattacks

Question 10

Lee’s decision to invade Maryland (Maryland Campaign September 4–20, 1862)

Answer 10

Faced with being chased by McClellan , couldn’t attack Washington, but…
Confed inflitratign Kentucky, Tennessee, not the time to move back
—> Lee moves across Potomac into Maryland with 55 000

Question 11

Lee’s plan to invade Maryland (Maryland Campaign September 4–20, 1862)

Answer 11

Lee’s plan for the invasion of Maryland
Divide the army, sending 2/3rds of it to attack the garrison a Harper’s Ferry that was preventing Lee from opening a supply line through the Shenandoah Valley
Unfortunately, ‘Special Orders 191’ , detailing that 2/3rds of army was in 3 columns achieving this aim and the fourth was isolated, were found by Union soldiers in a field near Frederick
McClellan made plans to target the group(s) in the Southern Mountain passes 18 hours later on Sep 14th. Lee already knew via a Confed sympathiser that McClellan knew by the 13th!
McClellan ’s units failed to arrive in time to aid those at Harper’s ferry

Question 12

To retreat or not to retreat after discovery of Special Orders 191?

Answer 12

Lee decides not to retreat to Shenandoah Valley as Jackson would capture Harpers Ferry by 15th
At this point McClellan outnumbered Lee 18 000 to 75 000, but waited. By the next day, Lee had all but 3 of his units

Question 13

Battle of Antietam, Sep 17th 1862

Maryland Campaign September 4–20, 1862

Answer 13

UNION VICTORY

Antietam
Union: 80 000 Confed: 40 000
Confeds had Potomac behind them

Morning of 70th
Union push against Jacksons men, bolstered from left and right

Union 2nd core, attacked by counter attack in west woods
Union at bloody lane, flank it and push confederates back –> Union capture

Union takes burnside bridge, crosses it, pushes Confederates away ONLY ROUTE OF RETREAT

A.P Hill arrives from Harpers, hits Union flank, Union stall

23 000 killed or wounded
No fighting on 18th

Question 14

Significance of Sharpsburg and the failure of the Maryland Campaign

Answer 14

• Ended Maryland Campaign
• Lessened chance of Britain recognising Confederacy
• Northern victory –> Helped gather momentum for Emancipation Proclamation
• “The slaughter at Sharpsburg therefore proved to have been one of the war’s greatest turning points”

Question 15

Comparing R.E Lee and McClellan

Answer 15

Comparing the tactics of Lee and McClellan

Lee: “Are you acquainted with General McClellan ? He is an able general but a very cautious one…”
Lee divided army in three different campaigns up to and including Maryland
Lee risked invasion of Maryland against odds

Lee not risk-averse
McClellan overestimated troop numbers
When hearing of spec orders 191, McClellan estimated Lee had 110 000. Actually number was 50 000, and McClellan had 80 000

McClennan too cautious
Waited 18 hours until 14th Sep to act on finding special orders 191
At Antietam Creek, no ‘probing attacks’ to find out how strong Confederate forces were

Question 16

Battle of Fredericksburg, Dec 13th 1862

Answer 16

Fredericksbrug
After Burnside took control of the Army of the Potomac, he moved his troops to cross the Rappahannock but took too long positioning them.
Lee positioned his troops South of the Rappahannock to defend Fredericksburg and the path to Richmond
Because public opinion demanded an offensive, they had to cross and face them
Light resistance by Lee’s army allowed time for reinforcements to arrive. North cross into Fredericksburg
Ensuing Battle on 13th saw disorganised union vs very effective Confeds
Attack on Jackson on Prospect Hill fails. Lee: ‘it is well that war is so terrible - we should grow too fond of it!’
Attack on Marye’s Heights fails. Troops come out of Fredericksburg and are cut down
13 000 Fed vs 5000 Union Casualties

Question 17

Battle of Chancellorsville, May 2nd-6th 1863

Answer 17

CONFED VICTORY
Still at Rappahannock, this time threatened by new commander, Joseph Hooker
- ‘May God have mercy on General Lee, for I will have none’
- Hooker divided army, sent two parts upstream to cross Rappahannock and attack from rear and flank, whilst smaller portioned remained to feign another attack
- 70 000 cross at Chancellorsville and Union in position
Lee would either leave or fight on the Union’s terms —> he chooses fight

Battle

• Lee leaves 10 000 at Fredericksburg, goes to engage Hooker’s troops at Chancellorsville
• May 2nd, Jackson takes 30 000 to engage Hooker’s from behind (west) Lee remained with 15 000 to the South East facing Chancellorsville
• ‘most daring gamble yet’; Jackson outnumbered, Jackson’s flank march in front of the enemy (near quote)
• Night of May 2nd, Jackson attacks followed by Lee. Success! —> Jackson KILLED
• May 3rd, Marye’s Heights captured
• Hooker Remains passive, Stuart faces him with 25000 (to his 75 000)
• Lee takes unit to Fredericksburg to counter Sedgwick having taken Marye’s Heights
• Counterattack on May 4th fails, but Sedgwick retreats anyway hearing that Hooker had given up

Incredible victory against massive force

• Divide and rule
• Seized initiative
• Aggressive

Costly

• 13 000 casualties (22%)
• Union lost 17 000 (15%)
• Loss of Jackson
• In long term ‘bred an overconfidence…that led to disaster’

Question 18

Northern Military Strategy

Answer 18

NORTHERN MILITARY STRATEGY
‘Handicapped by divided authority’
Halleck (command of Missouri Department) vs Buell (command of Ohio department)
Lincoln wanted them to cooperate in offensive from Mississippi to the Appalachians but they refused, both wanting fame and Halleck disliking Buell’s idea of an offensive against Bowling Green
Lincoln’s strategy
Attack different points at the same time
Adopted by Grant in the Overland Campaign
“Amateurism and confusion characterised the development of strategies as well as the mobilisation of armies”
“The trial and error of experience played a larger role than theory in shaping Civil War strategy”
Early plan was the anaconda plan, a limited strategy for limited means. As war became more prolonged it was shaped by experience

Question 19

Grant’s character

Answer 19

‘rarely clamoured for reinforcements, rarely complained, rarely quarrelled with associates, but went ahead and did the job with the resources at hand’

Question 20

Vicksburg Campaign plan (a fort in Mississippi)

Answer 20

1863 offensive, Grant vs Pemberton
River offensive had failed, decided to March down west bank of the Mississippi river whilst boats attacked Vicksburg from the river. Rendevouz downstream to allow boats to carry them across
Once over, attack Johnston to prevent him reinforcing Pemberton at Vicksburg
Live off the land

Question 21

Vicksburg Campaign risks

Answer 21

Risks

Would cut them off w/o reinforcements/supply line and they may be unable to sail back upriver

Question 22

Vicksburg Campaign Execution

Answer 22

Gets boats upstream
Creates diversions to prevent a challenge to the troops crossing
Confeds wanted to unite, defeat Grant then recapture Vicksburg
Union attacks Pemberton’s forces between Jackson/Vicksburg
17 day campaign lost 4300 to 7200 and demoralised defenders of Vicksburg by May 18th
May 22nd, after again being repulsed, Grant prepares for siege
—> Nearing starvation, surrender 4th july

Question 23

Battle of Chattanooga

Answer 23

Battle of Chattanooga
- ‘A spectacular though serendipitous success’ that followed defeat at Chickamagua in Sep 63
Grant made commander of the Division of the Mississippi in October 1863
Grant planned to attack Chattanooga, thus making possible an invasion of Georgia
Attack the flanks of Bragg’s line whilst there was a ‘secondary’ offensive against rebel troops on Missionary Ridge
November 24th, offensive begins:
‘Battle of the Clouds’ as Hooker’s troops cross Lookout Valley and force Bragg’s troops back
With flank attacks not working, Grant orders Thomas to attack centre
23 000 man Pickett’s charge-esque offensive and take Missionary Ridge without taking orders from Grant

Question 24

Grant’s Promotion, March 1864

Answer 24

Grant’s promotion to lieutenant
Promoted to head of all Union armies
Sherman heads Western Theatre, Grant travels East to oversee command of the Army of the Potomac under George G. Meade

Question 25

Overland Campaign plan

Answer 25

The Overland Campaign
The plan
- Country couldn’t endure more violence
- so far, armies had ‘acted independently and without concert, like a balky team, no two ever pulling together’
Must therefore have attack against all the armies consecutively to prevent them from reinforcing one another
Meade to Follow Lee, Sherman to follow Johnston
—> US Grant pivotal

Question 26

Overland Campaign May- June 1864, April 1865

Answer 26

The Wilderness
No ground gained from 5th-7th and at least 17,500 lost, but Granr continues in an attempt to sidestep Lee and take control of Spotsylvania

Encagement at Spottsylvania Courthouse
Very costly, another 16 000 lost, but inflicted very heavy losses on Lee’s army
Confeds had no sufferdd 44 000: 25 000

Cold Harbour
59 000 Confeds against 109 000 Federals
Both are tired but a flank attack at this stage could be decisive —> orders assault 3rd June
Mistake. Lee’s men were hard fighting and his were not
7 000 Fed casualties to only 1500 despite huge numerical advantage
‘Cold Harbour Syndrome’

Petersburg
Too tired after intense 7 week offensive, attacks ‘sluggish’ and soldiers had ‘Cold Harbour Syndrome’
55 000 Confeds (and falling due to desertion) to 120 000 of Grant’s men
April 2nd, final attempts to attack the siege line failed —> Petersburg abandoned that night

By evening of April 3rd, Petersburg and Richmond taken
Lee surrenders to Grant at Appotamox Court House on April 9th.

Question 27

Nature of Overland Campaign

Answer 27

Nature of the warfare
No longer battles on set turf, but trench warfare
‘by this point in the war the spade had become as important as the rifle’
Not a ‘war of attrition’ as some have argued, that was Lee’s tactic

Question 28

Sherman’s Capture of Atlanta and significance

Answer 28

Capture of Atlanta Sep 1st 1864
“Atlanta is ours, and fairly won.’
Richmond Examiner, “the disaster in Atlanta came in the very nick of time to save the party of Lincoln from irretrievable ruin…”

Question 29

March to the Sea Nov-Dec 1864

Answer 29

March to the Sea
‘I could cut a swath through to the sea, divide the Confederacy in two, and come up on the rear of Lee
’
George Thomas in Tennessee with 60 000, Sherman with 62 would forage

psychological aspect: ‘I can make the march, and make Georgia Howl’

Only Wheeler’s 3500 Confed cavalry stood between Sherman and Savannah (near direct)

One brief engagement in November, 600 casualties to 62.
Foraging unrestricted

Weakened Confederate loyalties
Scortched Earth policy
Savannah captured mid-December 1864

Question 30

Sherman’s march through S. Carolina late 1864-early 1965 and significance

Answer 30

South Carolina
Similar treatment to Georgia
not many buildings left standing
Very significant psychological impact
Sherman personally said 10* more important than march to the sea
Burning of Columbia, South Carolina, on Feb 17th 1865

Question 31

Sherman’s philosophy of war - quote

Answer 31

Sherman’s philosophy of war
‘ War is cruelty and you cannot refine it, but when peace does come, you can call on me for anything. Then I will share with you the last cracker.’

Question 32

Surrender of Joe Johnston’s army to Sherman

Answer 32

Joe Johnston surrenders to Sherman in N. Carolina on April 26th, 1865

Question 33

Lee’s plan for the Gettysburg Campaign: why was it important?

Answer 33

STRATEGIC SIGNIFICANCE
Lee had to invade the North and force an end to the war failed.

What Lee hoped to do was cross the Potomac, pass through the border state of Maryland, and begin waging an offensive war on Union soil, in Pennsylvania. After gathering food and much-needed clothing in the prosperous region of southern Pennsylvania, Lee could threaten cities such as Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Baltimore, Maryland, or perhaps an even greater prize, Washington, D.C.

Had the plan succeeded, Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia might have surrounded, or even conquered, the nation’s capital. The federal government could have been disabled, and high government officials, including even the president, might have been captured.

After it failed, no more Northern invasions

USED TO JUSTIFY COST OF WAR
Gettysburg could never have been forgotten, but its place in American memory was enhanced when President Abraham Lincoln visited the site of the battle four months later, in November 1863.

Lincoln had been invited to attend the dedication of a new cemetery to hold the Union dead from the battle. He took the opportunity to give a speech which would provide a justification for the war.

Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address would become known as one of the best speeches ever delivered. The text of the speech is short yet brilliant, and in less than 300 words it expressed the nation’s dedication to the cause of the war.

Question 34

Gettysburg: planned invasion - July 1st

Answer 34

Planned for invasion of Pennsylvania after success at Chancellorsville in May

Invasion army of 75 000

June 1863, invades Pennsylvania
Lee showed restraint, asking troops not to plunder
Wanted recognition, to show that South better than north had been at Fredricksburg, and to encourage Northern copperheads to sympathise, thus dividing the North

June 28th: Joseph Hooker replaced with George Gordon Meade as head of army of the Potomac, Lee learns that army is at Frederick

Army concentrated around Gettysburg upon Lee learning Meade was in Pennsylvania

Union 20 000 forced back by Confed 30 000 to Cemetry hill/Culp’s hill, significant advance

Question 35

Gettysburg, July 2nd 1863

Answer 35

July 2nd, main battle begins
Offensives on Union’s left and right flanks and centre are repelled
‘uncoordinated and disjointed assaults’
Both armies have lost 9000, Confederates have gained ground but not taken the Federal position around the hills in the South of the town

Question 36

Gettysburg, July 3rd 1863

Answer 36

July 3rd
Lee regroups troops to the right to attack Union flank before hitting centre again

Centre at Cemetery Ridge attacked by artillery before General George Pickett is order to charge centre (Pickett’s Charge)
Bloodbath —> Retreat to Virginia on July 4th
Heavy losses
28 000 dead

Question 37

James McPherson on the significance of Gettysburg

Answer 37

‘Though the war was destined to continue for almost two more bloody years, Gettysburg and Vicksburg proved to have been its crucial turning point.’
No further chances of English intervention

Question 38

The Atlanta Campaign May-Sep 1864

Answer 38

Sherman vs Army of the Tennessee
Sherman had 110,000 men and 254 cannon in three armies concentrated near Chattanooga. Facing them at Dalton, eighty miles north of Atlanta, Gen. Joseph E. Johnston had 53,800 officers and men present for duty with 154 field pieces. Within the month the Confederates received 15,000 reinforcements, making Johnston’s army at the time the South’s largest

Sherman’s tactic was to use a frontal offensive but not with full force. Meanwhile, McPherson’s corps to flank Confederate line and threaten supply line (Western and Atlantic Railroad)

July 18th, J. E Johnston repaced with Hood and North 5 miles from Atlanta

Sherman intended to starve out the city, shelling it and cutting supply lines

Atlanta abandoned by Hood Sep 1st 1864

Question 39

Petersburg Campaign June 15, 1864, and April 2, 1865.

Answer 39

General Ulysses S. Grant’s failure to capture Richmond or destroy the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia during the Overland Campaign (May 4-June 12, 1864) caused him to cast his glance toward Petersburg.

Capturing this important transportation hub would isolate the Confederate capital and force General Robert E. Lee to either evacuate Richmond or fight the numerically superior Grant on open ground.

Lee had to defend this as the last stronghold between Grant and Richmond

Prepared for a long siege

Multiple attacks on Confederate defences:
First was Butlers assaults on June 9th

Memorable episode, the Crater incident: July 30th, proposed mine under Confederate fort to detonate charges, break line and allow Union advance. Trained black regiment is replaced last minute, detonation goes ahead but troops move into the crater and are attacked. Grant: it was the saddest affair that I have witnessed in this war. Thousands killed, Burnside dismissed

March 25th, Lee attempted an attack on Fort Stedman. Lees’ troops seized the fort. However, in the ensuing counterattack, Union forces recaptured it, as well as some of the Confederate fortifications. Lee lost 5,000 men and his lines were now so thin they could not hold for long.

Five Folks”, Union troops won a decisive victory, when half the Confederate forces surrendered. Grant then ordered an assault all along the lines for the next morning, the 2nd of April.