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

William T. H. Brooks

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Career military officer in the United States Army, serving as a major general during the American Civil War.

Returning to field duty in the late spring of 1864, Brooks commanded the 1st Division of XVIII Corps at Cold Harbor and Petersburg.

Charles W. Field

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Career military officer, serving in the United States Army and then, during the American Civil War, in the Confederate States Army.

Field's division continued to perform well during the fighting at Battle of Cold Harbor and Siege of Petersburg.

John H. Martindale

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American lawyer, Union Army general, and politician.

Afterward he returned to field service, fighting with the XVIII Corps in the Bermuda Hundred Campaign, the Battle of Cold Harbor and the Siege of Petersburg, commanding the corps briefly in mid-July 1864.

American Battlefield Trust

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Charitable organization (3)) whose primary focus is in the preservation of battlefields of the American Civil War, the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 through acquisition of battlefield land.

A billboard drawing attention to the proposed casino at Gettysburg

Volunteers help clean up the battlefields on Park Day

Virginia: Aldie, Appomattox Courthouse, Appomattox Station, Ball's Bluff, Brandy Station, Bristoe Station, Buckland Mills, Cedar Creek, Cedar Mountain, Chancellorsville, Cold Harbor, Cool Spring, Cross Keys, First Deep Bottom, Second Deep Bottom, First Kernstown, Fisher's Hill, Five Forks, Fort Harrison, Fredericksburg, Gaines's Mill, Glendale, Hatcher's Run, High Bridge, J.E.B. Stuart's Birthplace, Kelly's Ford, Lee's Mill, Malvern Hill, Manassas, McDowell, Middleburg, Mine Run, New Market, New Market Heights, North Anna, Petersburg (A.P. Hill death site), Petersburg (Peebles' Farm), Petersburg (The Breakthrough), Port Republic, Rappahannock Station, Ream's Station, Sailor's Creek, Saltville, Second Winchester, Spotsylvania Courthouse, Stafford Civil War Park, Third Winchester, Thoroughfare Gap, Tom's Brook, Totopotomoy Creek, Trevilian Station, Upperville, Ware Bottom Church, White Oak Road, Wilderness, Williamsburg