A report on Siege of Petersburg and Battle of Cold Harbor

The "Dictator" siege mortar at Petersburg. In the foreground, the figure on the right is Brig. Gen. Henry J. Hunt, chief of artillery of the Army of the Potomac.

Battle of Cold Harbor by Kurz and Allison, 1888

Fredericksburg, Virginia; May 1863. Soldiers in the trenches. Trench warfare would appear again more infamously in World War I

Union marches and operations in Central Virginia (1864-65)

Siege of Petersburg, assaults on June 15–18

Movements in the Overland Campaign, May 29, and actions May 30, 1864

Siege of Petersburg, movements against the railroads and A.P. Hill's counterattack, June 21–22

Opposing commanders: Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, USA, at Cold Harbor, photographed by Edgar Guy Fawx in 1864; Gen. Robert E. Lee, CSA, photographed by Mathew Brady in 1865

The Burnett Inn at Old Cold Harbor (by Timothy H. O'Sullivan, June 4, 1864)

"Dictator" siege mortar on the U.S. Military Railroad at Petersburg

Positions of the armies on the afternoon of June 1, 1864

Siege of Petersburg, Battle of the Crater, July 30

Makeshift Confederate breastworks at the extreme left of their line

Sketch of the explosion seen from the Union line.

Earthworks photographed after the battle

Second Battle of Deep Bottom, August 14–20

7th New York Heavy Artillery (serving as infantry) preparing to leave the trenches and charge the Confederate line, sketched by Alfred Waud

Siege of Petersburg, capture of the Weldon Railroad, August 18–19

"Unburied Dead on Battlefield" by John Reekie; issued as Stero #914 being taken on the 1862 Battlefield of Gaines Mills aka First Cold Harbor April 1865; taken near the Adams Farm where 7th New York artillery was stationed June 1864 see Civil war Talk.

Siege of Petersburg, actions on October 27

Siege of Petersburg, actions preceding Five Forks

Union Coehorn mortars in action, drawn by Alfred Waud

Grant's final assaults and Lee's retreat (start of the Appomattox Campaign)

Overland Campaign, from the Wilderness to crossing the James River
Confederate
Union

<center>Brig. Gen. James H. Wilson</center>

<center>Brig. Gen. August Kautz</center>

Fascine Trench Breastworks, Petersburg, Va. – NARA – 524792. Although identified as Confederate Trenches this is actually Union Fort Sedgwick aka "Fort Hell" which was opposite Fort Mahone aka "Fort Damnation"<ref>Civil War talk Forum</ref>

Union Army 9th Corps attacking Fort Mahone aka "Fort Damanation" sketch by Alfred Ward.

Confederate artilleryman killed during the final Union assault against the trenches at Petersburg. Photo by Thomas C. Roche, April 3, 1865.<ref>Frassanito, p. 360.</ref><ref>See website Petersburg Project on location of Many of the Roche photographs at Petersburg April 1865</ref> Although prints of this picture list it as being taken at Ft Mahone, historians at the "Petersburg Project" believe it was taken at Confederate Battery 25<ref>Dead Artilleryman comments Petersburg Project</ref>

Smoke is still rising from the ruins of Richmond, Virginia after surrendering on April 3, 1865 following the Union victory at the siege of Petersburg. Union cavalry mounts with carbines visible are hitched in the foreground.

Richmond–Petersburg Theater, fall 1864
Confederate
Union

In the final stage, Lee entrenched his army within besieged Petersburg before finally retreating westward across Virginia.

- Battle of Cold Harbor

This theory was tested at the Battle of Cold Harbor (May 31 – June 12) when Grant's army once again came into contact with Lee's near Mechanicsville.

- Siege of Petersburg

34 related topics with Alpha

Henry Heth

5 links

Career United States Army officer who became a Confederate general in the American Civil War.

Heth as a member of the Confederate Army

An illustration of Confederate troops at Gettysburg on July 1, 1863

In the subsequent Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, his division was held primarily in the rear, and was positioned on the Confederate left flank at the Battles of North Anna and Cold Harbor.

Heth also participated in the Siege of Petersburg, playing direct roles in the battles of Globe Tavern; Second Ream's Station; Peeble's Farm; Boydton Plank Road; and Hatcher's Run.

John Gibbon

1 links

Career United States Army officer who fought in the American Civil War and the Indian Wars.

Gibbon (right), with his II corps commander Hancock (sitting) and fellow division commanders Barlow (left) and Birney (center standing) during the Wilderness campaign

Gibbon (far left) at Lee's surrender at Appomattox (Zoom)

John Gibbon's grave at Arlington National Cemetery

Gibbon was back in command of the 2nd Division during Gen. Grant's Overland Campaign in May and June 1864, seeing action at the battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, and Cold Harbor.

During the subsequent Siege of Petersburg campaign (June 1864 to April 1865), Gibbon became disheartened when his troops refused to fight at Ream's Station in August 1864.

Horatio Wright

2 links

Engineer and general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

Portrait by Mathew Brady or Levin C. Handy, c. 1873

Wright's corps fought at Cold Harbor from June 3 to June 12, 1864.

In the Siege of Petersburg, the VI Corps was the first unit to break through the Confederate defenses, on April 2, 1865.

John B. Gordon

4 links

Attorney, a slaveholding plantation owner, general in the Confederate States Army, and politician in the postwar years.

John Brown Gordon statue by sculptor Solon Borglum, located on the northeastern part of the grounds of the Georgia State Capitol

Gordon's grave, Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta, Georgia

His division was held in reserve at the Battle of North Anna and was positioned in the Magnolia Swamp, north of where the major fighting occurred at the Battle of Cold Harbor.

In this role, he defended the line in the Siege of Petersburg and commanded the attack on Fort Stedman on March 25, 1865 (where he was wounded again, in the leg).

V Corps (Union Army)

3 links

Unit of the Union Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War.

The V Corps saw hard fighting at Cold Harbor and the Siege of Petersburg in June.

Richard H. Anderson (general)

2 links

Career U.S. Army officer, fighting with distinction in the Mexican–American War.

Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, actions May 10, 1864
Confederate
Union

Anderson then fought at the Battle of Cold Harbor in early June, and participated in the rest of the Army of Northern Virginia's operations to the south of Petersburg, Virginia, from mid-June until October.

When Longstreet returned from his convalescence on October 19, 1864, Lee created the new Fourth Corps, which Anderson led through the Siege of Petersburg and the retreat towards Appomattox Court House in 1865.

Charles Devens

0 links

American lawyer, jurist and statesman.

General Charles Devens (center) and other officers in Richmond, Virginia, April, 1865.

Peninsula Campaign March 17 – May 31, 1862

Devens distinguished himself at the Battle of Cold Harbor, while commanding the 3rd Division/XVIII Corps in Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign.

During the final stages of the Siege of Petersburg, he commanded the 3rd Division of the XXIV Corps.

William Farrar Smith

2 links

Union general in the American Civil War, notable for attracting the extremes of glory and blame.

For the Overland Campaign of 1864, Smith was assigned by Grant to command the XVIII Corps in Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler's Army of the James, which he led in the Battle of Cold Harbor and the first operations against Petersburg.

Battle flag of the Confederate States Army

Third Corps, Army of Northern Virginia

3 links

Unit of the Provisional Army of the Confederate States.

Wartime photo of III Corps divisional commander William Mahone

Wartime photo of III Corps divisional commander and temporary corps commander Henry Heth

At Cold Harbor, Hill was stationed on the Confederate left flank but on June 2 Mahone's and Wilcox's divisions were moved to the Confederate right in response to the movements of the Union II Corps; Heth's division remained on the left.

Following Cold Harbor, the corps was rushed to the Richmond-Petersburg area where it was engaged in the three-day Battle of Petersburg.

David B. Birney

1 links

Businessman, lawyer, and a Union general in the American Civil War.

Birney (center standing), with his II corps commander Hancock and fellow division commanders Barlow and Gibbon during the Wilderness campaign

David B. Birney grave at the Woodlands Cemetery

After good service in the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House (where he was wounded by a shell fragment), and Cold Harbor battles, on July 23, 1864, Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant gave Birney command of the X Corps in the Army of the James.

During the Siege of Petersburg, Birney became ill with diarrhea.