SEPTEMBER 29, 1864:
The
Battle of Chaffin’s Farm and New Market Heights (Day One):
This battle was really an extended
series of engagements against Confederate Fort Harrison, Fort Johnson, and Fort
Gilmer, all part of the defensive ring around Petersburg and Richmond. Ulysses
S. Grant reasoned that if he could strike at a number of widely-separated
points along the lengthy and thinly-held Confederate defensive line that
protected the two cities, he could break through somewhere, and, at the very
least, permanently isolate the two cities from one another.
African-American troops under General Edward Ord moved in
force against Fort Harrison in New Market Heights outside Richmond. Robert E.
Lee had less than 2,000 men in this area of the line, and they quickly
surrendered their outer positions, retreating to an inner ring of defenses
closer to Richmond. These defenses, far stronger than the outer ring, could not
be breached, but the Union had taken and was holding several Confederate strong
points along the line. Lee had to rush troops from Petersburg to Richmond to
meet this threat, and, as a result, weakened the Petersburg defenses.
