THE SITUATION AT PETERSBURG.
________
A Petersburg paper of yesterday [July 22, 1864], (for which we are indebted to Mr. William C. Barnes,) says that it has positive information that Grant is not dead. A prisoner taken near City Point night before last [July 21, 1864], and brought into our lines, states that the first time he heard it hinted was from his captors, and that is certainly not so.
Profound quiet has prevailed around the lines during the past three days. During Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday [July 19, 20, and 21, 1864] scarcely a picket gun was heard, and the discharge of cannon was almost as rare.
The sharpshooters on both sides have not relaxed their vigilance.
The idea that the enemy was contracting his lines by withdrawing his forces from our right, was removed by the clearly ascertained fact that he still confronts us on every portion of the lines with increased rather than diminished forces—Other movements of the enemy indicate that he is placing heavier guns in position and increasing the number of his batteries.
There has been some mortar firing along the lines, but the casualties, so far, have been unprecedentedly small.1
SOPO Editor’s Note: This article was transcribed by Jackie Martin.
If you are interested in helping us transcribe newspaper articles like the one above, please CONTACT US.
Source/Notes:
- “The Situation at Petersburg.” Richmond Examiner. July 23, 1864, p. 2 col. 3 ↩