the siege of petersburg

these are the men of company B, U.S. engineer battalion from maine. this photo was taking during the siege of petersburg, va.

from the sometimes incorrect (but not in this case) wikipedia:

The Richmond-Petersburg Campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865, during the American Civil War. Although it is more popularly known as the Siege of Petersburg, it was not a classic military siege, in which a city is usually surrounded and all supply lines are cut off. It was nine months of trench warfare in which Union forces commanded by Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant assaulted Petersburg unsuccessfully and then constructed trench lines that eventually extended over 30 miles around the eastern and southern outskirts of the city. Petersburg was crucial to the supply of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's army and the Confederate capital of Richmond.

Lee finally yielded to the overwhelming pressure—the point at which supply lines were finally cut and a true siege would have begun—and abandoned both cities in April 1865, leading to his retreat and surrender in the Appomattox Campaign. The Siege of Petersburg foreshadowed the trench warfare that would be common in World War I, earning it a prominent position in military history. It also featured the largest concentration of African American troops employed in the war, who suffered heavy casualties at such engagements as the Battle of the Crater and Chaffin's Farm.

the events that occurred during the siege of petersburg led to the fall of richmond and the inevitable surrender of lee's army days later in appamattox.

general lee knew his forces were completely outnumbered and he wouldn't be able to hold out much longer in his entrenched position. in the pre-dawn hours of april 2nd, grant made his move and attacked the entire confederate line. the confederate army fought bravely and held the line as long as they could, but the line broke during the day. lee knew he would not be able to fight another day, so in the darkness of night, the confederate armies were ordered to retreat from the front and rendezvous in farmville, va.

a week later, lee would be forced to surrender.

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i'm thinking about a) going to the petersburg battlefield on sunday and b) doing a driving tour of lee's retreat and inevitable surrender. i don't think i can do both in one day, but let me know if any of you civil war nerds might be interested.