In the Trenches at Petersburg: Field Fortifications and Confederate Defeat

CHAPTER THREE: Three Days in June

{ 21 } ChaPTer Three Three Days in June Even after June 15, the Federals maintained the advantage of momentum—they continued to move troops south of the Appomattox faster than the Confederates . But whether they could overcome the problems of troop exhaustion, lack of information, and the defensive potential of even modest earthworks remained to be seen. When Lee received word in the early morning hours of June 16 that Beauregard planned to abandon the Howlett Line, he hurried George E. Pickett’s division from its position near Glendale, on the old Frayser’s Farm battlefield. Lee also sent Anderson to take charge of the Howlett Line and asked Beauregard to leave his pickets behind until the relieving force arrived. But it soon became apparent that the pickets were gone and some Federals had already occupied the Howlett works. Lee dispatched two other divisions to help Pickett retake them. The army commander had thus far repositioned his force so that about half his available troops were south of the James River.1 JUne 16 Beauregard was too busy at Petersburg to worry about the Bermuda Hundred line. Johnson’s division arrived at 10:00 a.M., giving Beauregard a total of 10,000 men to defend the city. Johnson placed his troops to Wise’s right, extending the Confederate position east and southeast of town. Even though the Second and Eighteenth Corps were in place and could have moved forward at any time, Meade ordered Hancock and Smith to wait until Burnside arrived before they launched another attack.The two corps already had around 30,000 men on the battlefield, outnumbering Beauregard three to one, but they were idle nearly all day. Hancock’s and Smith’s commands joined at the Friend House, near Battery No. 8, while Hancock’s left wing extended nearly to the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad.2 Petersburg, June 15–18, 1864 Swamp Swamp Black Water Swamp Blandford Cemetery Appomattox River Rives Baxter Rd. Taylor Railroad Cut Courthouse Rd. Jordan’s Point Rd. Dimmock Line Harris Line P o o r C r e e k P o o r C r e e k Griffith Elliott’s or Pegram’s Salient City Point Road Hagood Line Friend Jordan Petersburg and City Point Railroad O.P. Hare H a r r i s o n’s C r e e k Prince George Dunn Shand Avery Dimmock Line New Market Race Course Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad Jerusalem Plank Rd. Baxter Rd. Three Days in June { 23 } By the end of the day, Beauregard decided that Hagood’s line was not strong enough. He ordered David B. Harris to lay out a new position on more advantageous ground to the rear and informed Lee that he would fall back to it as soon as possible.3 As the armies waited, a seesaw struggle for control of the Howlett Line took place at Bermuda Hundred. Butler became aware that Beauregard had given up the strong work on the morning of June 16. He advanced the Tenth Corps and a portion of the Eighteenth Corps to take possession of the works and tear up the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad. The Yankees occupied the entire line, even Battery Dantzler, the northern anchor, by early afternoon. Grant was greatly encouraged by this news and arranged for two divisions of the Sixth Corps to help Butler.4 Instead of pushing out to permanently sever the lines of communication between Richmond and Petersburg, or to move on Petersburg from the north, Butler’s men busied themselves with minor and shortsighted tasks.Weitzel put 1,200 men to work shoveling away the Confederate parapet and cutting trees that stood between the lines, for they had served as cover for Confederate sharpshooters during the past month.Weitzel tried to make a “rapid survey” of the Rebel works and looked for suitable ground foradvanced redoubts between the lines. From Butler down to the lowest private, no one seemed to think this was a unique opportunity that had to be exploited. Instead, housekeeping chores occupied everyone’s attention.5 This gave Anderson a chance to reclaim the Howlett Line. He deployed Pickett’s and Charles W. Field’s divisions and pushed back Federal pickets on the Richmond and Petersburg Turnpike. These pickets warned Alfred H. Terry, temporarily commanding the Tenth Corps, that all of Lee’s army was advancing, and he ordered a retreat. The Confederates...