June 22, 1864---Holding Onto the Railroad; The Battle of Kolb's Farm

JUNE 22, 1864:           

Union forces at Petersburg try to cut the Wilmington & Weldon Railroad in order to isolate Petersburg from the rest of the South. Driven by desperation, the Confederates, under General A.P. Hill, strike back furiously. Hill's troops rolled up on the Union flank, inflicting nearly 3,000 casualties and capturing 1,700 prisoners. Hill’s action provided breathing room for Lee's army.

The Battle of Kolb’s Farm:     The Spring rains having dried, action resumes around Atlanta. General Joseph E. Johnston C.S.A. and his men have backed up all the way to Kennesaw Mountain. Although Johnston prefers maneuvering to out-and-out combat, there is no place else left to move without imperiling Atlanta. Today he authorizes General John Bell Hood to carry out a strike on the Union positions outside Marietta. 

Hood is an aggressive fighter. He lost an arm at Gettysburg and the opposite leg at Chickamauga, but this has not blunted his fighting spirit. However, the impulsive Hood would rather fight than switch, and he fails to reconnoiter the Union lines very well. Although his initial dual charges throw back the Union regiments holding those areas of the front, the Federals retreat right back to their battery line, hidden in the woods. The advancing Confederate forces are chopped up by a Federal cannonade. Total Confederate casualties in the engagement, "more a one-sided slaughter than a battle," were approximately 1,500 men of 10,000 engaged, mostly killed. The Union lost 250 men of 20,000 engaged.  Although Hood temporarily stymies Sherman’s forces, it is done “at a price the Confederacy can ill-afford” according to Johnston. This implied criticism causes friction between Hood and Johnston, friction which has long term consequences. 

June 21, 1864---Cutting the Confederacy's lifeline

JUNE 21, 1864:           

General Ulysses S. Grant U.S.A. extends his siege lines further around Petersburg by sending the 2^nd and 6^th Corps around the left flank. He tours the Union emplacements accompanied today by a surprise visitor --- President Lincoln. After the bloodletting of the Overland Campaign, Grant now chooses to be content with starving out The Army of Northern Virginia. Grant’s goal is to cut the Wilmington & Weldon Railroad, once the longest railroad in the world at 162 miles, and now Petersburg’s lifeline to the rest of the Confederacy.