There were no Union attacks directly against Richmond in 1863. The
second great movement upon the Confederate Capital began in June,
1864, when Grant came down through the Wilderness, as already
described, and attacked the Confederates at Cold Harbor. Lee was
entrenched there in almost the same defensive position occupied by
McClellan's rear when protecting his retreat across the Chickahominy
two years before. Grant made little impression, but in a brief and
bloody battle lost fifteen thousand men. He then turned aside from
this almost impregnable position to the northeast of Richmond, went
south to the James River, and, crossing over, started a new attack
from a different quarter. This removed the seat of war to the south of
Richmond, and in September, 1864, General Butler's Unionist troops
from Bermuda Hundred captured Fort Harrison, a strong work on the
northeast side of the James, opposite Drewry's Bluff, and not far from
Malvern Hill. The campaign then became one of stubborn persistence.
Throughout the autumn and winter Grant gradually spread his lines
westward around Petersburg, so that the later movements were more a
siege of that city than of Richmond. City Point, at the mouth of the
Appomattox, flowing out from Petersburg to the James, became his base
of supplies. As the Union lines were extended steadily westward, one
railway after another, leading from the far South up to Petersburg and
Richmond, was cut off, and Lee was ultimately starved out, forcing the
abandonment of Petersburg in the early spring of 1865, and the
evacuation of Richmond on April 3d, with the retreat of Lee westward,
and the final surrender at Appomattox six days later, causing the
downfall of the Confederacy, and ending the war.
From the top of Libby Hill in Richmond the route is still pointed out
by which the swiftly moving Union troops, after that fateful Sunday of
the evacuation, advanced over the level lands from Petersburg towards
the burning city. The bridges across the James were burnt, and acres
of buildings in the business section were in flames when they came to
the river bank and found that the greater portion of the affrighted
people had fled. The Yankees quickly laid a pontoon bridge, crossed
to Shockoe Hill, rushed up to the Capitol, and raised the Union "Stars
and Stripes" on the roof, replacing the Confederate "Stars and Bars."
Then they went vigorously to work putting out the fires, and the new
infusion of life given the city by its baptism of blood imparted an
energy which has not only restored it, but has given it an era of
great prosperity. It is a curious fact that the nearest approach any
Northern troops made to Richmond during the progress of the war was in
March, 1864. A precursor to Grant's march through the Wilderness was a
dashing cavalry raid from the northward, the troopers crossing the
Chickahominy, then unguarded, and advancing to a point about one mile
from the city limits. Here they met some resistance, and, learning of
defensive works farther ahead, General Kilpatrick, who commanded the
raiders, retreated. General Lee's troops were then fifty miles away
from Richmond, guarding the lines along the Rappahannock.