The pictorial field book of the Civil War in the United States of America Volume 3

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1877 Excerpt: ...night, and was kept at bay by a murderous fire; but at dawn General Potter's division made a desperate charge upon the works in front of the Ninth Corps, carried them, and captured four guns and four hundred prisoners. His division was at once relieved by General Ledlie's, 1 Between five and six o'clock in the afternoon, Hancock, then pressing forward with his column from Windmill Point toward a designated spot in front of Petersburg, received orders from Grant to hasten to the assistance of Smith. The divisions of Birney and Gibbon were then in advance, and these were pushed forward to Smith's position. Hancock, who was blamed by some for being yet on his march so late in the dny, pleaded the fact that he had been misled hy an incorrect map, and stated that the order from General Grant, to assist Smith, was the first intimation he had received of an intended attack on Petersburg that day. 3 General Smith, in his Report of Operations before Petersburg, says that he was uware of the crossing of the James by Lee's army that night, lie deemed it, he said, " wiser to hold what we had, than, by attempting to reach the bridges that spanned the Appomattox at the city, to loso what we had gained, and have the troops meet with a disaster." "Heavy darkness was upon us," ho said, "and the troops were placed so as to occupy the commanding positions and wait for daylight" 3 In his report, written more than a year afterward, General Grant said, in speaking of these operations of General Smith: "Between the lines thus captured and Petersburg, there were no other works,and there was no evidence that the enemy had ro-enforced Petersburg with a single brigade from any source. The night was clear, the moon shining brightly, and favorable to ...