The Union Picket Line

The Union Picket Line. . June 18th 1864 was the forth day of continuous fighting as Union troops tried to seize Petersburg. That morning union soldiers charged down the ridge to the east and forced the Confederates out of the railroad cut. Under fire from Confederate sharpshooters these troops advanced over the creek and up the hill in what was a wheat field., Union troops came within yards of the Confederate line to the west but were stopped by severe fire. They dug in there using bayonets, tin cups, plates and spoons. "Our position however hold," recalled Colonel Bolton of the 31st Pennsylvania, "Poo[r] Creek (below here) ran red with blood and the flag of the 2nd. Mich. was found floating down the little stream.", These soldiers replaced the next day by troops that included the 48th Pennsylvania. The regiment of mostly miners quick came up with the idea of mining under the Confederate in front of them to try to change the course of the siege., (captions) , Sketch of sharpshooters on the picket line by Alfred Waud. , Col. William J. Bolton , Charles Wellington reed's depiction of the 9th Corps picket line