Petersburg Battlefields

Petersburg Battlefields. Battle of Jones Farm, March 25, 1865. , As the enemy must have massed on the right of our line, they must have left their own line weak. How would it do for us to attack along the whole length of our line?" , , Gen. Horatio G. Wright, USA, "The enemy swarmed up to the rifle pits and in scarcely more time than it has required to describe it, captured the picket line and swept up and down like a flame." , , Lt. James Fitz James Caldwell, McGowan's South Carolina Brigade, CSA, March 25, 1865, at Petersburg is usually remembered for the Battle of Fort Stedman, styled "Lee's Last Grand Offensive." Here in the fields of the Jones Farm another battle occurred that day, one with arguably more significance., Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee launched a desperate attempt to break the Union line east of Petersburg, about six miles from here, targeting a Federal stronghold called Fort Stedman. He stripped portions of his defenses west of the city in order to mass firepower against Fort Stedman., Lee's move created an opportunity for two Northern corps to assault the weakened Confederate line here. The Second and Sixth Corps attacked the elaborate Confederate picket line along a four-mile front and captured it in spirited fighting. In some places, such as these preserved earthworks, the Federals merely reversed the Confederate trenches rather than build a new line. That is why this short stretch of surviving works appears to face in two directions simultaneously. From this line of works, which extended for miles to the left and right, the Sixth Corps attacked on the morning of April 2, shortening the amount of ground required to reach the main Confederate line and greatly contributing to Union success that day., (Photo Captions) , The same day that fighting was raging all around you at Jones Farm, Lee was launching his last grand assault at Fort Stedman, shown here a few weeks later. , - Courtesy Library of Congress, The Confederates suffered about 850 casualties here at the Jones Farm, one of them Pvt. Theldred S. Lay, 35th Georgia Infantry, who was shot in the left leg, captured and died in a Washington hospital. His grave is in the Confederate section of Arlington National Cemetery. , Courtesy Civil War Trust, Col. J. Warren Kiefer's and Col. James M. Warner's brigades spearheaded the final attack against this portion of the Confederate pickey line on March 25, 1865.