Selected Samples from the Siege of Petersburg Online: June 16, 1864
Item: B&L: Four Days of Battle at Petersburg by P.G.T. Beauregard
Description: Who better to talk about the opening assaults at Petersburg than the head of the Confederate defensive effort there in the first days of the Second Battle of Petersburg? Beauregard witnessed the key events of June 16, 1864 in person and performed brilliantly over these few days, providing his greatest service to the Confederacy of the entire war and more than likely prolonging the war in the east by quite a few months.
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Items:
- MHSM Papers V5: Crossing of the James and Advance on Petersburg, June 13-16, 1864 by Colonel Theodore Lyman
- MHSM Papers V5: The Failure to Take Petersburg on June 16-18, 1864 by John C. Ropes
- MHSM Papers V5: Bermuda Hundred, June 16 and 17, 1864 by Brevet Brigadier-General Francis A. Osborn
Description: I’ve grouped these items from the Papers of the Military Historical Society of Massachusetts since they all discuss the events of June 16, 1864 in one way or another. This is the Union counterpoint to Beauregard’s article above. Note that fighting was also occurring on a lesser scale on the Bermuda Hundred front to the north of Petersburg, across the Appomattox River.
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Item: Ulysses S. Grant’s Utter Failure at the Battle of Petersburg: June 15-18, 1864 by Bryce Suderow
Description: Bryce Suderow provides a modern perspective of how Grant handled the opening assaults. The title of the piece may give away the conclusion. 🙂
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Description: This official report by Bushrod Johnson, not found in the Official Records and passed along to me by Bryce Suderow, is one of the most exciting finds I’ve had while running this site. Johnson was one of Beauregard’s division commanders at the Second Battle of Petersburg. Johnson’s report contains a detailed account of the fighting on June 16, 1864, the second day of the Second Battle of Petersburg.