After
the Wilderness Campaign (May-June,
1864), Ulysses S. Grant and the Army of
the Potomac headed for the port of Petersburg on the Appomattox River.
Robert E. Lee and the Confederate
Army quickly retreated to Petersburg as it was considered vital
to hold this town in order to protect Richmond.
The Union Army suffered heavy losses
at the end of July, 1864, trying to take the port but was eventually
able to cut off Lee's supplies from the lower South.
In March, 1865, William Sherman joined
Ulysses S. Grant and the main army at
Petersburg. On 1st April Sherman attacked at Five
Forks. The Confederates, led by Major General George
Pickett, were overwhelmed and lost 5,200 men. On hearing the news,
Robert E. Lee decided to abandon Richmond
and join Joseph E. Johnston in South
Carolina. Petersburg fell on 3rd April, 1865 and the Union
Army entered Richmond later the same day.
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