Petersburg,
Virginia, just south of Richmond, was the site of the last campaign and the
longest siege of the Civil War. Earlier in 1864, Ulysses S Grant had failed to
take the Confederate capital of Richmond and so began a campaign at Petersburg
to try to cut off supplies from reaching Robert E Lee's army. Thus began the
siege of Petersburg that was to last 10 months. There were a series of battles
during this time, all ferociously fought and costing the lives of many of the
160,000 soldiers involved.
Probably the most well known of the various battles for
Petersburg was the Battle of the Crater. In this battle, the Union Army built a
huge mine and filled it with explosives. Once it was detonated, an equally huge
crater was formed. The battle in and around the crater was horrific and despite
the destruction around them, it failed to break the Confederate lines. Once the
Union was successful in breaking through in April of 1865, it forced Lee to
Appomatox where he finally surrendered and ended the war. Such was the ferocity
of the campaign that the battlefield was almost immediately a tourist attraction
for the curious.
This book by Ron Fields covers the various battles and events
fought during this campaign that let up to the final breakthrough. We get a good look at the opposing commanders through the eyes of those
who wrote about them during this time and how their armies performed. The rest
of the book is on the preface battles and the results of the various
engagements.
Throughout the book are the illustrations of Peter Dennis as
well as a considerable number of period drawings and photographs. This all melds together to make a superb book on the
subject. One that I found both interesting and entertaining. I'm sure you will
as well and I can easily recommend it to you.
September 2009
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