Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/372

 358 PETERSBURG (SIEGE OF) forced into an interior position, .... and the army proceeded to envelop Petersburg." Lee, leaving not quite half his force near Richmond, took the remainder to Petersburg ; and his lines gradually grew in extent and strength, encir- cling the city on the east, south, and southwest. The actual siege began on June 19. Grant's first effort (June 21) was to seize the "Weldon railroad. This attempt was committed to the corps of Wright and that of Hancock, now tem- porarily commanded by Birney. The effort was abandoned after a loss of about 3,000 men. Simultaneously with this attempt, Wilson with about 8,000 cavalry tore up the Weldon, South Side, and Danville railroads for many miles, so that the confederate army was reduced to sore straits for lack of supplies. Late in July a part of the Union army had crossed the James and intrenched itself at Deep Bottom, where it directly threatened Richmond. Grant hoped to induce Lee to send thither a part of his force at Petersburg. That accomplished, an attack upon the latter place was to be commenced by the explosion of a mine which had been dug by Burnside's direction. This mine, extending under a fort which occupied a salient position in the confederate lines, consisted of a gallery 520 ft. long, terminating in lateral branches 40 ft. in either direction. Directly behind this fort was Cemetery hill, which completely command- ed Petersburg. Grant ordered the mine to be charged with 8,000 Ibs. of powder, and if the confederate works should be destroyed by the explosion, Burnside was to be followed up by other corps. The mine was exploded about day- break of July 30. The fort was blown up, carrying with it its garrison, a South Carolina regiment of a few hundred men, leaving a cra- ter 200 ft. long, 60 ft. wide, and 30 ft. deep. The confederates fled from their works on either hand. The sides of the crater were so rough and steep that it was impossible to mount them in military order ; a single Union regi- ment climbed up and made for Cemetery hill ; but not being followed by others, they fell back into the crater. The confederates began to pour in shell, and planted guns so as to com- mand the approach. After four hours of in- effectual effort the Union forces were with- drawn, leaving 1,900 men prisoners to the confederates. The entire Union loss in this at- tempt was about 4,000 ; the confederate loss appears not to have reached 1,000. Months of indecisive operations now ensued, Lee stead- ily foiling Grant's attempts to get possession of the railroads on the south and southwest. Butler endeavored to cut at Dutch Gap a short- er approach to Richmond by water, but this led to no important result. Early in February, 1865, an unsuccessful attack was made upon the extreme confederate right by Warren's corps and that of Hancock, now commanded by Hum- phreys. The Union loss was 2,000, that of the confederates about half as many. At the opening of spring the confederacy was prac- tically limited to the southern third of Vir- ginia and the northern third of North Caroli- na. Here Lee and Johnston had barely 100,000 men against the armies of Grant, Sherman, and Schofield, and the ample reinforcements on which they could reckon. Lee resolved to abandon Petersburg and Richmond, and to unite with Johnston somewhere on the bor- ders of Virginia and North Carolina, but wait- ed for practicable roads and hew depots of supplies. On March 24 Grant issued orders for a movement to be commenced on the 29th against the extreme confederate right. Lee Elanned an offensive operation which would acilitate his own withdrawal ; this was to pierce the lines near the Union right. Early on March 25 squads of men announcing them- selves as deserters approached the Union lines ; this had now become common, and no suspi- cions were aroused. These squads suddenly dashed upon the Union pickets and overpowered them. Then the confederate abatis were thrown down, and a column of 5,000 rushed out and seized Fort Steadman and some works on either side. The Union batteries from all sides be- gan to play upon the fort, which was speedily retaken, and of the 5,000 confederates hardly 2,000 regained their lines. The entire confed- erate loss this day was about 4,500, that of the federals 2,034, nearly half of whom were pris- oners. In pursuance of the order of the 24th, Sheridan with his cavalry moved by a wide detour toward the extreme confederate right. The infantry movement began on the morn- ing of the 29th. Including Sheridan's 10,000 cavalry, the moving force was about 50,000. Stripping his intrenchments so that he left barely 10,000 men to hold lines ten miles long, Lee collected 15,000 or 20,000 men to oppose the enemy. They did not move until night- fall, but during the night a furious storm set in which lasted all the next day, making the roads almost impassable. Sheridan and War- ren, however, worked their way a little on- ward, both heading toward the Five Forks, where the confederates had some slight works isolated from the main line. The confederates reached the Five Forks on the morning of the 31st, partly by the W T hite Oak road, which they tried to hold. But Warren had already worked his way up to this road, and a severe struggle here ensued. After some apparent success the confederates suddenly fell back and disap- peared, hastening to face Sheridan, who had pushed a part of his cavalry up to the Five Forks, from which he drove the enemy. Lee moved down the road, regained the Forks, and drove Sheridan back to Dinwiddie Court House, where a stand was made. Early on the morning of April 1 Warren had concentrated his corps within three miles of the Forks. Sheri- dan, who took command of both cavalry and infantry, completed his arrangements late in the afternoon, and two hours before sunset Warren moved upon the Forks, and forced the enemy into their works and then out of them. They made an ineffectual stand about a mile distant,