Battles For The Weldon Railroad

Battles For The Weldon Railroad. Mahone Strikes Again.

"At 4:15 p.m. … a strong column broke through the skirmish line connecting our right with the Jerusalem plank road and ... swept steadily down through the woods toward our left until it reached within 200 yards of the railroad." , Col. Charles S. Wainwright, USA

, Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Third Petersburg Offensive failed miserably at the Battle of the Crater, July 30, 1864. In August, his Fourth Petersburg Offensive again focused on capturing the Weldon Railroad. On the 18th, Union Gen. Gouverneur Warren's Fifth Corps succeeded in occupying the tracks, less than a mile to your right. The next day, Warren attempted to connect his corps with the permanent Union line near Jerusalem Plank Road, modern Crater Road, more than a mile to the east. This stretched his troops too far., A large gap existed between his far-right flank, manned by the famous Iron Brigade, and the rest of his corps. Just as in June, Confederate Gen. William Mahone would exploit this weakness. With a makeshift division of three brigades, barely 4,000 men, Mahone used Lieutenant Run ravine to reach the woods east of Johnson Road to your left. His afternoon assault scattered the Iron Brigade and rolled up Warren's corps almost to the railroad. Warren, however, called on the Ninth Corps to counterattack and Mahone's men were forced to withdraw., Once again, Mahone inflicted grossly disproportionate casualties, with Warren losing some 2,900 men on August 19, including more than 2,500 prisoners. Two days later, Mahone used five brigades to attack Warren again from points west of the railroad. This attack failed. Grant's Fourth Petersburg Offensive resulted in permanent Union control of the Weldon Railroad marking an important turning point in the Petersburg Campaign., (captions) , Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren, the hero of Gettysburg's Little Round Top, proved to be a controversial corps commander. Despite his success along the Weldon Railroad, Warren earned the distrust of both Grant and army commander George Meade and would be relieved of command at the Battle of Five Forks on April 1, 1865. Courtesy Library of Congress, Though no longer standing, Globe Tavern served as Gen. Gouverneur Warren's headquarters. During the fighting on August 19, Mahone's soldiers approached the tavern's clearing before being driven back. It was located on the east side of the Weldon Railroad, today's Halifax Road. Courtesy Library of Congress, Mahone advanced south down Johnson Road before deploying into a battle line and attacking the Federals.