General-in-Chief Ulysses S. Grant, overall Federal commander, planned to take Major-General George G. Meade’s Army of the Potomac south across the James River to attack General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia from below the Confederate capital of Richmond. This involved a diversionary movement by Major-General Benjamin F. Butler’s Federal Army of the James, currently held in check at Bermuda Hundred by Confederates of the Department of North Carolina and South Virginia under General P.G.T. Beauregard.
Butler planned to advance in three columns totaling some 4,500 men. U.S. Colored Troops from Brigadier-General Edward W. Hinks’s division of the Eighteenth Corps were to break through Beauregard’s line holding them in Bermuda Hundred. They would then attack the defenses east of Petersburg while cavalry under Brigadier-General August V. Kautz rode down to attack the city from the southeast.
As Butler finalized his plans, he was met by Major-General Quincy A. Gillmore, commanding the Tenth Corps. Gillmore insisted that since he was the senior officer, he should lead the infantry in the attack, with Kautz’s cavalry in support. Gillmore cited “the great importance of the expedition to the Union cause, the necessity of having tried troops to cover the retreat in case of disaster, or who would be more to be depended upon in making the assault upon the enemy’s lines.” Butler agreed and put Gillmore in charge.
The Federal infantry crossed the Appomattox River at 3:40 a.m. on June 9, more than three hours behind schedule. The cavalry remained several more hours behind. Brigadier-General Henry A. Wise commanded the 1st Military District of the Department of North Carolina and South Virginia, which included Petersburg. Wise had just 1,000 Confederates, most of whom were either convalescents or prisoners freed from the local jail. Wise announced: “Petersburg is to be, and shall be defended on her outer walls, on her inner lines, at her corporation bounds, in every street, and around every temple of God, and altar of man.”
Although he had a four-to-one advantage, Gillmore ordered frequent halts in the advance that gave the Confederates time to organize as strong a defense as possible. Gillmore asked Butler to send him artillery, but Butler replied, “This is not to be artillery work, but a quick, decisive push.” Cyrus Comstock, observing the action on behalf of Grant, wrote, “Gillmore makes no serious attack on Petersburg thinking line in his front too strong. Kautz… thinks rebs did not have more than 1500 men in city. Butler curses & says he will relieve Gillmore…”
Beauregard responded to Wise’s report that Federals were advancing on Petersburg by pulling Confederates from north of the Appomattox. Beauregard notified his superiors at 10:45 a.m.: “Have sent… all I can spare from the lines. Without the troops sent to General Lee, I will have to elect between abandoning lines on Bermuda Neck and those of Petersburg.” Lee, still thinking that Grant’s main effort would be against Richmond, believed the attack on Petersburg was just a feint.
Beauregard then reported at 12:45 p.m. that Kautz’s Federals had “taken works on Jerusalem Plank Road and are advancing into town.” They could only be stopped if Beauregard abandoned his line at Bermuda Hundred. Beauregard warned, “Delay in sending reinforcements will be fatal to that city (Petersburg) and to Richmond for its supplies.”
As Gillmore stopped to consolidate his troops, Kautz’s troopers rode to within 150 yards of Petersburg. Wise shifted his defenders to hold off Kautz, leaving a path into the city wide open for the Federal infantry. But by the time Gillmore realized this, Beauregard was sending reinforcements from Bermuda Hundred to close the gaps. The Confederates easily repelled the half-hearted Federal attack in what became known as the “Battle of the Patients and the Penitents.”
Butler, who had constantly feuded with Gillmore, blamed him for the failure to capture Petersburg. Butler asserted, “Had the movement been a success, as it easily might have been, Petersburg would have been in our possession…” He relieved Gillmore of command and ordered him arrested for disobedience and incompetence.
Gillmore demanded a military tribunal to clear his name, and then Grant intervened. He told Butler that this was “a severe punishment to General Gillmore, even if a court of inquiry should hereafter acquit him.” Grant proposed that if Butler was willing to withdraw his order to relieve Gillmore, then Grant would reassign him to another department instead. Butler agreed, and Grant officially directed that Gillmore had been relieved at his own request.
President Jefferson Davis asked Lee if he could spare any men to send to Petersburg, but Lee could not. Lee wrote, “The pause in the operations of Gen. Grant induces me to believe that he is awaiting the effect of movements in some other quarter.” But what Lee thought was a “pause” was really Grant creating diversions while preparing for his main movement across the James River.
Bibliography
- Bearss, Edwin C. with Suderow, Bryce, The Petersburg Campaign: The Eastern Front Battles, June-August 1864, Volume I. El Dorado Hills, Calif.: Savas Beattie LLC; Casemate Publishers, Kindle Edition, 2012.
- Catton, Bruce, Grant Takes Command. Open Road Media, Kindle Edition, 2015.
- Davis, William C., Death in the Trenches: Grant at Petersburg. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1983.
- Foote, Shelby, The Civil War, A Narrative: Red River to Appomattox. New York: Vintage Civil War Library, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group (Kindle Edition), 2011.
- Freeman, Douglas Southall, Lee. Scribner, (Kindle Edition), 2008.
- Pollard, Edward A., Southern History of the War (facsimile of the 1866 edition). New York: Fairfax Press, 1990.
- Sears, Stephen W., Lincoln’s Lieutenants: The High Command of the Army of the Potomac. Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books, (Kindle Edition), 2017.
- Sommers, Richard J. (Patricia L. Faust, ed.), Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War. New York: Harper & Row, 1986.