"The Siege of Petersburg (June 1864 to April 1865), or the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign, was among the last military operations of the American Civil War (1861-1865). It was not a siege in the traditional sense, but rather a period of static trench warfare. Both the Union and Confederate armies spent months in their opposing trenches around the vital railway junction of Petersburg, Virginia, wearing one another down through battles, raids, and attrition."
"By early June 1864, the eastern theater of the American Civil War reached a stalemate. Over the past 40 days, the Union Army of the Potomac and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia had been locked in a life-or- death struggle that had played out over the course of three almighty battles: the Battle of the Wilderness (5-6 May), Battle of Spotsylvania Court House (8-21 May) and Battle of Cold Harbor (31 May-12 June)."
By June 1864 the eastern theater had reached a bloody stalemate after major battles at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor. Grant sought to break the deadlock by targeting Petersburg, a vital railway junction south of Richmond, to cut Confederate supply lines. Both armies constructed extensive entrenchments and engaged in months of static trench warfare punctuated by assaults, raids, and attrition. Union numerical and logistical advantages gradually wore down Confederate capacity to hold the lines. In April 1865 Confederate forces abandoned Petersburg and Richmond and retreated, and General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House, ending major Confederate resistance.
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