Battles For The Weldon Railroad

Battles For The Weldon Railroad. Gen. William Mahone and the Second Petersburg Offensive.

"About 3 p.m. I rode to the front through the woods, to discover that the two divisions on my left … had been attacked and forced back through the timber uncovering the left of my division." , Gen. John Gibbon, USA

, Between June 15 and 18, 1864, Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's First Petersburg Offensive captured a large portion of the Confederate defense line east of Petersburg. A few days later, Grant launched his Second Petersburg Offensive, aimed at capturing the Weldon Railroad, a vital Confederate supply line less than a mile behind you., Gen. David B. Birney, temporarily in command of the Union Second Corps, sent nearly 21,000 men westward on June 21 to execute Grant's plan. Gen. Horatio Wright's Sixth Corps advanced on Birney's left in support. The Federals resumed their march the next day, but a large gap opened between the two corps, both of which moved slowly and stopped well short of the railroad. Confederate commander, Gen. Robert E. Lee, ordered Gen. William Mahone to halt the bluecoats' progress. The gap between the two Union corps offered the opportunity to strike Birney's exposed left flank, located a few hundred yards east of Johnson Road, the highway in front of you., Mahone selected three of his division's brigades to make the attack and utilized the deep ravine formed by Lieutenant Run and thick woods to reach the gap unseen. By mid-afternoon, Mahone's force formed near here and began their attack. Within two hours the Confederates rolled over most of Birney's line, capturing 1,742 men, eight battle flags, and four pieces of artillery in addition to killing and wounding a number of Federals, at a cost of only 600 casualties. The next day, Mahone's troops drove back the Sixth Corps, leaving Grant's Second Petersburg Offensive a failure., (captions) , Gen. David Birney, the son of a famous abolitionist, commanded the Second Corps during the Second Petersburg Offensive in place of Gen. Winfield S. Hancock, who periodically suffered from a wound he had sustained at Gettysburg the previous year. Courtesy Library of Congress, Throughout the Petersburg Campaign, Gen. William Mahone's Division became the shock troops of the Army of Northern Virginia, Lee calling on it to execute counterattacks against many of Grant's offensives. Courtesy Library of Congress, The head of the ravine used by Mahone is in the woods to your left rear. The Confederates attacked toward the intersection of Johnson and Birdsong Road to your right front.