by Ben Kritz

Created on: April 16, 2008

When the siege of Petersburg began in June 1864, the fate of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia was sealed, though the end would not come for another 10 months. Perpetually outnumbered by the Union armies facing him, Lee adhered to the Napoleonic principles of rapid movement and concentration of forces at critical points. When it worked, it gave the Confederacy incredible successes like the Second Battle of Bull Run and Chancellorsville, and saved the Army of Northern Virginia from certain destruction at Antietam. When Lee departed from the concept, it led to disastrous defeats like Gettysburg. At Petersburg he faced the worst of all possible situations for his army, being forced into static defenses against an overwhelmingly superior and well-supplied enemy. Lee could not win in those circumstances, and he knew it. The only chance for the Army of Northern Virginia and the Confederacy was to make a desperate gamble and hope for some incredible good luck.

The gamble was made on March 25, 1865. Lee gathered as many forces from the Petersburg defenses as he could and attacked the Federal line at Fort Stedman, on the east side of Petersburg not far from where the horrific Battle of the Crater had taken place. The objective of the attack was to break the Federal line and cut communications with the huge Union supply base at City Point a few miles away on the James River. Led by Maj. Gen. John B. Gordon, the initial attack surprised the Federals and the Confederates were able to occupy almost three-fourths of a mile of the Union works, but beyond the Union lines the advance bogged down in confusion and a determined counterattack drove the Southerners back. The assault had failed, and worse for General Lee, about 4,000 of his rapidly dwindling number of soldiers were killed, wounded, or captured. His last chance at taking the offensive had passed; all he could do now was wait for the Union to attack, and respond to it as best he could.

U.S. Grant made him wait an entire week, because the Union general was determined that the next assault against Petersburg would be the last. On April 1, the Federals attacked at Five Forks, an important road junction southwest of Petersburg, driving in the outer defensive line of Lee's army and cutting the last remaining road and rail connections to the city from the west. The next morning, a furious Union assault on the southern side of Petersburg snapped Lee's tenuous line in two places. Overwhelmed, the Confederates reeled back into

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