June 18, 1864---The Second Battle of Petersburg (Day Four)

JUNE 18, 1864:          

 The Second Battle of Petersburg   (Day Four):  

Robert E. Lee himself arrives on the Petersburg battlefield with two Divisions. P.G.T. Beauregard is furious with Lee. Although he had repeatedly warned Lee of the Federal menace, Lee had ignored or minimized it until his own son, General Rooney Lee, had sent him a private message. The number of Confederate effectives in the lines rises from 14,000 to 20,000 men, but nearly 70,000 Yankees now surround Petersburg. 

The Battle of Jerusalem Road:          

The Union occupies the outer ring of the Dimmock Line, but in attempting to take Battery 27 at the Jerusalem Road, the Federals encounter fierce opposition. 

 

Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, the hero of Little Round Top at Gettysburg, is shot through both hips. Although hip wounds have the highest fatality rates in the Civil War, and although Chamberlain’s medical treatment is worse than medieval (to look for the bullet, Union surgeons run an unsanitized rifle ramrod through one side of his body to another), Chamberlain continues in command of his unit using his ceremonial sword as a walking stick until he faints from blood loss. General Grant, convinced Chamberlain will die, quickly promotes him in the field to Brigadier General. 

Chamberlain does die of his wounds --- in 1914. He is accounted the last combat casualty of the Civil War. Of 900 men in Chamberlain’s 1^st Maine, 632 are killed or wounded this day. 

In the Second Battle of Petersburg, total losses for the Union number 11,386 (1,688 killed, 8,513 wounded, 1,185 missing or captured), while Confederate losses are 4,000 (200 killed, 2,900 wounded, 900 missing or captured).

After the Battle of Jerusalem Road, Meade orders his men to entrench. They occupy the outer Dimmock Line, much to the frustration of the Confederates. Due to the trepidation of subordinate commanders though, the Union does not take the city, which 48 hours ago was ready to fall like a ripe apple.  The Second Battle of Petersburg is over, and with it the Overland Campaign. 

The Siege of Petersburg begins in earnest. It will be some 290 days before Old Glory flies above the ruins of Petersburg.