Second Battle of Petersburg 1864
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 15 June 1864 – 18 June 1864 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1864 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | 19th century (1800–1913) | derived from year |
| Location | United States | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | North America | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | American Civil War | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 37.2211, -77.3782 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Second Battle of Petersburg, also known as the assault on Petersburg, was fought June 15–18, 1864, at the beginning of the Richmond–Petersburg Campaign (popularly known as the Siege of Petersburg). Union forces under Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant and Major General George G. Meade attempted to capture Petersburg, Virginia, before General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia could reinforce the city.
The four days included repeated Union assaults against substantially smaller forces commanded by General P. G. T. Beauregard. Beauregard's strong defensive positions and poorly coordinated actions by the Union generals (notably Major General William F. "Baldy" Smith, who squandered the best opportunity for success on June 15) made up for the disparity in the sizes of the armies. By June 18, the arrival of significant reinforcements from Lee's army made further assaults impractical. The failure of the Union to defeat the Confederates in these actions resulted in the start of the ten-month Siege of Petersburg.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Second Battle of Petersburg (revision 1380704440), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Siege of Petersburg 1864 · 0 km
- Battle of the Crater 1864 · 0 km
- Battle of Fort Stedman 1865 · 1 km
- First Battle of Petersburg 1864 · 2 km
- Battle of Blandford 1781 · 2 km
- Battle of Jerusalem Plank Road 1864 · 4 km
Other battles of the American Civil War
- Siege of Suffolk 1863
- Siege of Vicksburg 1863
- Skirmish at Ashley's Mills 1863
- Skirmish near Brooklyn, Kansas 1863
- Skirmish of Sporting Hill 1863
- Action at Ashley's Station 1864
- Ambush of the steamboat J. R. Williams 1864
- Bahia incident 1864
- Battle of Adairsville 1864
- Battle of Albemarle Sound 1864
All 498 battles of the American Civil War →
Browse more: battles in United States · North America · 19th century battles