[High-resolution Map]

Petersburg to Richmond 23 Miles (Via U S 1 & 301) Petersburg to Blackstone 35 Miles (Via U S 460) Petersburg to Raleigh 136 Miles (Via U S 1) Petersburg to Hopewell 9 Miles (Via State 36) Petersburg to Norfolk 73 Miles (Via U S 460) Petersburg to Emporia 41 Miles (Via U S 301) and South Indicates Park Tour Routes Indicates Park Boundary Circled Numbers refer to Historic Points Mentioned in “[Guide to the Area.]”

Photograph of one of the engines used on the United States military railroad taken at City Point in 1865. This engine hauled men and supplies to various parts of the long line around Petersburg. Courtesy, National Archives.

“The Dictator” or “The Petersburg Express,” a 13-inch, 17,000-pound mortar which the Union Army used to shell Petersburg from a distance of two and one-half miles. Courtesy, National Archives.

For a period of a little over 3 weeks after the Battle of Peebles’ Farm the shovel and pick again replaced the musket as the principal tools for soldiers on both sides. Forts were built, breastworks dug, and gabions constructed. Then, on October 27, the Union troops moved again. This time they turned toward Boydton Plank Road and a stream known as Hatcher’s Run, 12 miles southwest of Petersburg.

The general plan of operations was nearly the same as that used at Peebles’ Farm. Butler’s Army of the James was ordered to threaten attack in front of Richmond. Meanwhile, at the left of the Union line 17,000 infantry and cavalry of the Army of the Potomac started for the Boydton Plank Road. They made rapid progress, driving the enemy outposts ahead of them and advancing in two long columns until they reached the vicinity of Burgess’ Mill where the Boydton Plank Road crossed Hatcher’s Run.

It was in the neighborhood of Burgess’ Mill that heavy Confederate opposition was met. Here a spirited engagement took place between the two contending forces. A failure of Union Generals Hancock of the II Corps and Warren of the V Corps to coordinate the efforts of their respective columns, coupled with stout Confederate infantry resistance and a dashing charge by Hampton’s cavalry in a manner reminiscent of “Jeb” Stuart, resulted in a speedy Northern withdrawal. The Boydton Plank Road, for a time at least, remained in Southern hands, and Grant’s encircling movement had received a temporary check.

The approach of winter made any large-scale effort by either side less probable, although daily skirmishes and tightening of the siege lines continued. The slackening of hostile action was used to good advantage by Union and Confederate alike, as it had been in the previous respites between battles, in the strengthening of the battle lines and efforts to develop some rudimentary comforts in the cheerless camps. Throughout the last 2 months of 1864 and the first month of the new year there were no strong efforts by either side before Petersburg; picket duty, sniping, and patrolling prevailed. Lee now had a 35-mile front, with the left resting on the Williamsburg Road east of Richmond and the right on Hatcher’s Run southwest of Petersburg. To hold this long line he had but 57,402 effective soldiers on December 31. Facing these undernourished and ragged soldiers, there were, according to official returns of the same date, 110,364 well-fed and equipped Union troops.