The exhausted army of Missouri stopped at Newtonia because there was a floor mill there that would allow them to make bread.

General James T Blunt pursuit them rebels, and caught up with them with eight or 900 dismounted Cavalry from the brigades of Charles Jemison and james Ford. At first, the only Confederates engaged were from Shelby’s division, but troopers from Fagan’s division came up and formed on Shelby’s right and pushed the Yankees back. Blunt’s outnumbered men were on the verge of collapse when Sanborns brigade of Pleasonton’s division arrived and saved the day. The Confederate resumed their retreat Southward.

The Yankees lost 113 casualties. The rebels probably lost about the same number.

162 years ago today, Grant attacked both ends of the Richmond–Petersburg front at once. When both attacks came up short, the operation was officially downgraded to a “reconnaissance in force.” Newspapers North and South openly mocked the label.

Here’s what that “reconnaissance” actually involved:

At Petersburg (Boydton Plank Road / Burgess Mill): About 30,000 men of the Army of the Potomac swung around Lee’s right flank, aiming for the Southside Railroad. Warren and Parke stalled in front of Heth’s entrenchments, and Hancock’s II Corps ended up alone west of Hatcher’s Run. Heth and Hampton hit him from two directions and nearly cut him off. Hancock got out and withdrew that night, and the Confederates kept the Boydton Plank Road all winter.

At Richmond (Second Fair Oaks / Darbytown Road): Butler’s Army of the James was supposed to pin Confederate troops north of the James, under orders not to assault entrenchments. Butler pressed his corps commanders to attack anyway. Terry’s single-brigade assault on the Darbytown Road failed. Longstreet shifted Field’s division north in time to stop Weitzel’s XVIII Corps on the Williamsburg Road. Black troops of the XVIII Corps were also repulsed by Gary’s cavalry on the Nine Mile Road, and accounts from members of Gary’s brigade describe wounded and captured Black soldiers being killed afterward. Butler lost more than 1,600 men to fewer than 100 Confederate casualties.

Calling an operation of this size a reconnaissance afterward wasn’t unique to 1864. Commanders on both sides relabeled failed attacks. But this one seems especially hard to defend given the numbers involved on the Union side.

Question for the sub: What other Civil War operations were renamed or downplayed after the fact? Was “reconnaissance in force” ever an honest description, or was it always cover?

Hampton Newsome’s Richmond Must Fall is the best book on these October 1864 operations if you want the full story.

I post a day-by-day “162 years ago” Siege of Petersburg series on my profile for anyone interested.

This is also known as grants sixth offensive at Petersburg

In his previous offensive grant had threatened Richmond in order to compel Lee to weaken his Petersburg forces.

In this offensive, he launched simultaneous attacks both south of the James and north of the James.

With less than a week to go before the presidential election grant set in motion an attempt to reach the southside railroad involving 45,000 union troops. The plan failed for two reasons.

First, George Meade sent too many troops to threaten the main confederate line. This involved two divisions of the ninth army, CORPS and two divisions of the fifth Army CORP. they spent the day skirmishing with the Confederate and accomplishing nothing.

Second reason, grant miscalculated that the confederate earthworks ended on the far side of hatchers run. In fact, they extended to Burgess Mill.

The attacking column consisted of Winfield Scott Hancock, and two divisions of the second army CORPS. They’re simply were not enough troops involved in this part of the field. Confederate General William, Mahone attacked Hancock and at the same time Wade Hampton attacked him on the White Oak Rd., Rooney Lee attacked him on the Quaker Road, and james Dearing attacked him from the North Bank of hatchers run. The Confederate attacks were not coordinated. Although the Yankees were compelled to retreat that night, the Confederate did not win a Signal victory. The Yankees announced to the Press that they were not mounting an offensive. Instead, the federal leaders called the operation a reconnaissance in force.

Meanwhile, in the second battle of Fair Oaks Benjamin Butler made an attack against newly created Confederate lines outside Richmond. Longstreet commanded the confederates, having just recovered from the wound he received on May 6 in the wilderness. The 10th Army CORPS under Terry threatened to confederate right but it was not a real attack. The main thrust occurred further north at the Derby town Road and the Williamsburg Road. Godfrey Weitzel, commanding the 18th CORPS attacked with two white brigades. Longstreet sent reinforcements in the nick of time to the threatened sector and they pinned down the Yankees in a dip in the ground. Most of the Yankees were compelled to surrender. On the Williamsburg Road to brigades of black troops made an attack. They over ran a confederate battery and murdered the gunners. Martin Gary arrived with his cavalry and murdered some of the black soldiers.

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October 27, 1864 is remembered at Petersburg for two big battles: Boydton Plank Road southwest of the city and Fair Oaks/Darbytown Road east of Richmond. But that same night, in the trenches east of Petersburg, there was a small fight that I think is one of the more remarkable episodes of the siege.

With Lee's attention pulled to both flanks, Meade had Nelson Miles's Second Corps division probe the Confederate lines in its front to see how thin they'd gotten.

Opposite Fort Morton, near the Crater, the picket lines were only about 40 paces apart. Just at dark, 100 men of the 148th Pennsylvania under Capt. Jeremiah Z. Brown went forward carrying axes. They chopped through the chevaux-de-frise and charged a small one-gun work the Federals called "Fort Crater" in two columns.

The gun never fired. The Confederates apparently took the attackers for deserters coming into their lines. Most of the garrison fled, and Brown's men came away with 17 prisoners from Wise's Virginia brigade, including the colonel and lieutenant colonel of the 46th Virginia.

Then it fell apart. The supports, the 26th Michigan, arrived too late, and a Confederate counterattack retook the work. According to Brown, Miles told him the next day that he had never expected the attack to succeed, that it was meant only as a demonstration, and that he had considered the men a forlorn hope and a sacrifice. Brown received the Medal of Honor in 1896.

A second raid the same night, by 130 men under Lt. Col. D. F. Burke of the 88th New York, took about 200 yards of picket line at "The Chimneys" opposite Fort Sedgwick before pulling back with 8 prisoners as Wallace's South Carolinians prepared to counterattack. Total Union losses for both: 4 killed, 25 wounded, 38 missing.

Nothing changed hands in the end, but it's a striking glimpse of how stretched Lee's lines were by late 1864, and of how close and strange trench warfare at Petersburg could be.

Sources if you want to dig in: Miles's report (OR Vol. 42, Part 1, Report #19); Brig. Gen. William H. Wallace's Confederate report (OR Vol. 42, Part 1, Report #365); J. W. Muffly, The Story of Our Regiment: A History of the 148th Pennsylvania Vols. (1904), pp. 800-805; and Austin C. Brightman Jr., "Glory Enough: The 148th Pennsylvania Volunteers at Fort Crater," Civil War Regiments Vol. 2, No. 2, which has an excellent map of the assault by David Woodbury.

Anyone have ancestors in the 148th PA, 88th NY, or Wise's or Wallace's brigades? And does anyone know of other cases where an attack succeeded because defenders mistook the attackers for deserters?

Dedicated to Gun 3

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Brian C. Pohanka (1955–2005) was an American historian whose passion for military history led him to spend his life researching, writing about, and sharing the past. He was concerned about the destruction of historic battlefields caused by urban development, particularly the battlefield of Chantilly, Virginia, and in 1987 he helped establish an organization dedicated to protecting these sites and preserving their historical significance

His interest in history went beyond books, as he also took part in historical reenactments as captain of the Duryee’s Zouaves, portraying the 5th New York Infantry Regiment. His knowledge and experience eventually led him to work as a historical adviser on films such as Glory and Gettysburg, helping bring the American Civil War to life with greater historical accuracy. Sadly, he passed away in 2005, leaving behind a lasting contribution to historical research, battlefield preservation, and the effort to share the past with future generations

Hey everyone,

I’ve been diving into my family history and discovered something I thought was pretty cool about my great-great-grandfather, Robert Pratt.

He enlisted as a 15/16-year-old Private in the 5th Vermont Infantry (Company H) in September 1861. He survived four years of brutal campaigns with the Vermont Brigade, steadily earning promotions up to 1st Lieutenant.

But his biggest moment came on April 2, 1865, at the Siege of Petersburg. The 5th Vermont was chosen to spearhead the massive assault against the Confederate fortifications. They became the very first Union unit to successfully breach and irreparably break Lee's lines.

During the chaos of the charge, Robert’s captain was wounded. At just 19 years old, my G-G-Grandfather took command of the company right there on the battlefield and led them through the breakthrough. This action forced the evacuation of Richmond and directly led to Lee’s surrender at Appomattox a week later. He was promoted to Captain shortly after.

The day after the surrender, he wrote in his diary: “We know now that the war is ended and how it thrills me with joy to know that we have accomplished what we have fought four years for.”

After the war, he moved out west to Minnesota, built a lumber business, and ended up being elected the 18th Mayor of Minneapolis (serving from 1895–1899)!

I’m incredibly proud to have uncovered this. If anyone has more details on the 5th Vermont’s actions at Pamplin Historical Park / the Petersburg Breakthrough, I'd love to hear them!

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Many of us find a Civil War ancestor and then hit a wall. The record gives a name and a regiment. It does not say where he fought.

Here is the method I use.

1. Search the surname in the National Park Service’s Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System. It covers Union and Confederate service.
2. Write down the unit, the rank at enlistment, and the rank at discharge.
3. Find where that regiment fought. Regimental histories and NPS battle summaries both help.
4. Check the battle date and place against any family letters or pension papers.

Two cautions. The National Park Service calls its own records “just an index.” Most enlisted men show no birth date and no hometown. Many Confederate unit records are lost or scattered, so a blank is not proof your ancestor missed a fight.

Disclosure: I am a novelist. I built a free tool that runs steps 1 to 3 in one place. It asks for one email address. You can find it at https://musterroll.vercel.app/. You can do all of this by hand, and I will answer questions about the method.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelby%27s_Raid_(1863)

Unlike the June 9 battle, which was a combined attack by cavalry and infantry, this was a battlefront completely by cavalry

Jeff Hunt has written the book on this battle, part of a series for Ted Savas on the operations in Virginia between July 17, 1863 and December 31, 1863.

Unlike the June 9 battle, which was a combined attack by cavalry and infantry, this was a battlefront completely by cavalry

Jeff Hunt has written the book on this battle, part of a series for Ted Savas on the operations in Virginia between July 17, 1863 and December 31, 1863.

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