Day 160: The Beginning of the End

Petersburg was the final defense for Richmond, heart of the Confederacy. When the Union laid siege to the town, which lies just a few miles to the south of Richmond, Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis knew their chances of keeping the South alive were slim to none. But they held on, Lee waging a tough fight in various locations.

Union troops held the city in a vice for nearly nine months; the strategy was an alternative to the costly frontal attacks waged upon Richmond in the months prior to the summer of 1864. Thousands of Union soldiers lost their lives attacking an enemy that was deeply entrenched. General Grant reflected upon those orders as some of the most regretted of his career. He and his officers decided that the better course was to cut the supplies to Richmond, beating it in a backdoor move, so to speak. Its main rail artery came from Petersburg, which itself had five lines coming into it. Three of those had already been taken by that summer, but Grant intended to get the final ones...thus, the siege of Petersburg.

It was not an all-out Union heyday; in fact, the Confederates enjoyed many minor victories, often due to poor Union leadership and organization at the ground level. But ultimately, Petersburg fell, and Richmond with it. When the inevitable was acknowledged by Lee, he sent word to Confederate President Davis that Richmond be evacuated, and all military stores be destroyed ahead of Union occupation. Days later, the Confederacy was dissolved in a peaceful surrender at Appomattox Court House. A fact we hadn't known before is that Lincoln spent two of the last three weeks of his life just outside of Petersburg, meeting with Grant to direct the final moves of the war. Photos taken of Lincoln, Grant and Sherman meeting together in the Union headquarters have a chilling effect when looked upon with the knowledge of Lincoln's assassination just six days following the surrender.

Now that we've come to the end of our Civil War journey, we find ourselves in awe that the country found a way back from the brink of total self-annihilation, and that our 50 states have formed a united core. There is still much to be overcome in the south; in many ways, it has never recovered from its wounds. We're very grateful for the national parks that have helped us grasp the full dimensions of the Civil War...our understanding of its complexities and raw tragedy will be a lasting souvenir from our travels.

Photos:
(1) an example of the earthworks built during the siege of Petersburg
(2) The original path of a railroad track within the Petersburg Battlefield Park has been turned into a wonderful hiking trail. At the trailhead is a memorial to the many African-American soldiers who fought valiantly and gave their lives in the battle.
(3) Kendall chose a fast method for cooling off after the hike.
(4) One of the more well-known incidents in the Battle of Petersburg is known as the Crater; a tunnel was dug from the Union line more than 500 feet to the walls of a Confederate fort. The plan for breaking the Rebel line was hatched by a regiment of Pennsylvania coalminers. They completed the tunnel in just 35 days, keeping its location secret from the prying eyes of Confederate scouts and spies. The explosion achieved by 4 tons of black powder, packed into the tunnel, had the expected result--blowing the fort to smithereens and killing or maiming more then 250 men. But a lack of solid leadership and communication among Union troops led to a disastrous follow-up, in which they surged directly into the crater rather than around it; like fish in a barrel, they were slaughtered in a counter-offensive, fired upon from the crater's ridges by Confederate reenforcements.
(5) the entrance to the tunnel, above, and the crater