PROLOGUE 2
UNION STRATEGY 1864 5
STRATEGIC PETERSBURG 7
BATTLE OF PETERSBURG 10
FIRST UNION ATTEMPT TO ENCIRCLE PETERSBURG 17
BATTLE OF THE CRATER 24
FIGHT FOR THE WELDON RAILROAD 36
UNION ENCIRCLEMENT CONTINUES 42
LEE’S LAST GAMBLE 58
FIVE FORKS: BEGINNING OF THE END 64
FALL OF PETERSBURG AND RICHMOND 68
[Illustration: _In the final year of the Civil War in the East, the
fighting focused upon Petersburg, an important transportation center
for Richmond and Lee’s army. For 10 bloody months of combat, both
from behind prepared positions and along the main routes of supply,
Lee’s ragged Confederates held the city (shown here from north of
the Appomattox River) against Grant’s numerically superior Federals.
On April 2-3, 1865, Lee was forced to abandon both Petersburg and
Richmond. One week later, he surrendered the Army of Northern
Virginia at Appomattox Court House, dooming the South’s bid for
independent existence._]