Freedom comes to the Confederate capital this day, although many of the white citizens yet remaining in the city see anything but freedom. As the sun dawns, vast destruction stretches as far as the eye can see. Worse yet, soldiers in blue are approaching the city. As one eyewitness, white Richmond resident Sallie Putnam, observes:…
Following yesterday’s victory in the Battle of Five Forks at Petersburg, Grant determines to make a frontal offensive on Lee‘s defenses. In the predawn hours of a Sunday morning, Gen. Horatio Wright’s Sixth corps emerge from their trenches and break through the Rebel lines, followed by offensives on the part of the Second and Ninth…
Five Forks is a road junction in the vicinity of Petersburg, important to the viability of Robert E. Lee‘s last supply line, the South Side Railroad. Today the Federals advance upon the junction and score a significant victory over the Rebels, capturing many prisoners and forcing, by the end of the day, Confederate defenders into…