Tag: siege of petersburg

  • First Battle of Deep Bottom – Part IV

    July 27th (2400-0800) While Foster conducted his isolated fight to preserve the bridgehead Hancock began his move. His orders were to cross the Appomattox at dark and proceed to Deep Bottom. After crossing that river he was to travel by side roads “so that the cavalry, which was crossing at Broadway Landing, might have an […]

  • First Battle of Deep Bottom – Part III

    July 25-26th Kershaw responding to Lee’s call for aggressive action increased the pressure on the Union bridgehead. As a result the opposing sides conducted a series of back and forth forays for control of the batteries and road network. On the 25th a position gained and held by the 11th Maine was turned over to […]

  • First Battle of Deep Bottom – Part II

    Making Plans With the basic roles of the campaign determined (Grant-offense; Lee-defense) the commanders had to create the means to accomplish their goals. Frustrated by the lack of progress in front of Petersburg, Grant decided to make use of his two brigade bridgehead. He was determined to turn it into a base for a thrust […]

  • The First Battle of Deep Bottom

    Introduction By the third week of June 1864 Union forces were stalemated in front of Petersburg. The promise of an early victory there wasted by the timidity of the commanders and poorly coordinated assaults. Grant, in an effort to disperse the Confederate defenders ordered Butler to seize and hold a bridgehead on the north shore […]

  • Making Sense of An “Action” Here and a “Skirmish” There

    Editor’s Note: This entry has been cross-posted at The Siege of Petersburg Online. — Actions and Skirmishes: How Do I Find Out What Happened? As I continue to study all phases and aspects of the massive nine plus month Siege of Petersburg, one interesting topic I’ve come across is the idea of “actions”, “skirmishes”, and […]

  • Siege of Petersburg Update: Weapons Carried By Many Union Units Added

    Regular readers of the Siege of Petersburg Online will recall that I’ve been purchasing microfilm rolls from the National Archives which contain Union Ordnance returns for June 30, 1864 and September 30, 1864.  For those of you unfamiliar with the term, an ordnance return lists out the weapons a unit units on the last day […]

  • “Hunker Doon Boys!”: The 140th Pennsylvania at the Siege of Petersburg

    Last time I introduced a 1902 New Orleans newspaper series on the Donaldsonville LA Artillery at the Siege of Petersburg.  John Hennessy is again responsible for sending along a great newspaper series on a unit at the Siege of Petersburg, this time the 140th Pennsylvania, a Second Corps regiment which saw a lot of action, so […]