The Union’s squeeze of the Confederacy is felt throughout the South. Charleston, the ideological center of the Confederate States, has now been under siege for some 430 days, with cannon balls raining upon the city almost daily. In Virginia, Confederate General Robert E. Lee remains trapped in the trenches, his forces growing thinner almost by…
Today U.S. President Abraham Lincoln wires encouraging words to General Ulysses S. Grant, entrenched at Petersburg against a determined but outnumbered Confederate enemy. “Hold on with a bull-dog grip, and chew & choke, as much as possible,” Lincoln instructs the general, the objective being to wear down the enemy, no matter now long it takes.…
In the trenches around Petersburg, Union General Ulysses S. Grant sends Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock off on an offensive against Richmond. For the next six days Federals and Confederates skirmish in the Second Battle of Deep Bottom. In the end, the Confederates win the battle by successfully thwarting the attack on the Confederate capital.…