National Park Service LogoU.S. Department of the InteriorNational Park ServiceNational Park Service
National Park Service:  U.S. Department of the InteriorNational Park Service Arrowhead
Petersburg National BattlefieldPeriod drawing of artillery being fired at siege of Petersbrug
view map
text size:largestlargernormal
printer friendly
Petersburg National Battlefield
Weldon Railroad: The 19th - 21st
 

August 19, 1864 (continued)

Weldon Railroad - August 19, 1864

 

 

 

 

 

 

 




Reinforced, the Union counterattacked and by nightfall had retaken most of the ground lost that afternoon.


August 21, 1864

Weldon Railroad: Aug. 21, 1864

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


During August 20, as Beauregard spent the entire day organizing another attack, the Union forces dug trenches eastward to connect their fortified position to the main Federal siege lines at Jerusalem Plank Road.

Gen. A.P. Hill (CSA) personally oversaw the Confederate attack on August 21. With the new fortified positions the Union thwarted the Confederate charges.

 

Aftermath

August 22, 1864

With this success, Grant extended his siege lines (and his military railroad) further west, cutting off Petersburg's primary rail connection with an important supply center that was also the Confederacy's last open seaport - Wilmington, North Carolina. Lee was now forced to off-load supplies from rail cars farther south and haul them by wagon thirty miles up Boydton Plank Road to Petersburg.

Previous 

Back to Battles of the Siege

Depot Field Hospital  

Did You Know?
The Depot Field Hospital, which was located in City Point, Virginia, (present day Hopewell) was the largest field hospital for Union or Southern troops during the Civil War. (Petersburg National Battlefield)

Last Updated: October 07, 2007 at 14:36 EST