"Saturday, July 30, 1864, Federal forces besieging Petersburg, Virginia, completed tunneling under Confederates lines, blew a giant hole in the lines, stunned their enemy in the area, and then sit and waited before attacking. The net result was a lot of dead soldiers, and a new phrase "snatching defeat from the jaws of victory," created by Abraham Lincoln.
The Petersburg front did not stay quiet for long after the disastrous Federal failure at the Crater. One particularly loud incident occurred just over a week later, at City Point, Virginia, ten miles northeast of Petersburg. The noise no longer echoes today, but it in an incident with chilling current day relevance.
The small village of City Point, Virginia, was located where the Appomattox River joined the James River. In 1838, a rail line was constructed connecting Petersburg and City Point. Though Petersburg was on the Appomattox River, the James was far more navigable. City Point, with regular steamboat service to New York City, became a port of entry for goods being shipped to Petersburg. Most of this commerce ended with the start of the American Civil War, and the increasingly effective Federal blockade – particularly of the James River, with the Federals never losing control of Fort Monroe, at the base of the river. What was left of City Point's commerce ended on May 5, 1864…"
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Amicalement
Armand
adds artillery to his soft-plastic Union forces.
