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…
Union forces continue advancing in North Carolina. Unable to prevent the Federals from marching through South and North Carolina, Confederate forces in those states strive to slow down Union advances and prevent the enemy from reaching Petersburg. Should Grant be reinforced at Petersburg by Sherman, the war will surely be over. Already, with Sherman systematically…