Peebles' Farm
Poplar Springs Church, Wyatt's Farm
Civil War in Virginia

American Civil War
September 30-October 2, 1864

In combination with Major General Benjamin Butler's offensive north of the James River, Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant extended his left flank to cut Confederate lines of communication southwest of Petersburg.

Two divisions of the IX corps under Major General John G. Parke, two divisions of the V Corps under Major General G.K. Warren, and Brigadier General David M. Gregg's cavalry division were assigned to the operation.

On September 30, the Federals marched via Poplar Spring Church to reach Squirrel Level and Vaughan Roads. The initial Federal attack overran Fort Archer, flanking the Confederates out of their Squirrel Level Road line. Late afternoon, Confederate reinforcements arrived, slowing the Federal advance.

On October 1, the Federals repulsed a Confederate counterattack directed by Lieutenant General A.P. Hill. Reinforced by Major General Gershom Mott's  division, the Federals resumed their advance on the 2nd, captured Fort MacRae which was lightly defended, and extended their left flank to the vicinity of Peebles' and Pegram's Farms.

With these limited successes, Meade suspended the offensive. A new line was entrenched from the Federal works on Weldon Railroad to Pegram's Farm.

Result(s): Union victory

Location: Dinwiddie County

Campaign: Richmond Petersburg Campaign (June 1864-March 1865) next battle in campaign previous battle in campaign

Date(s): September 30-October 2, 1864

Principal Commanders: Major General George G. Meade, Major General John G. Parke, and Major General G.K. Warren [US]; Lieutenant General A.P. Hill and Major General Wade Hampton [CS]

Forces Engaged: Corps

Estimated Casualties: 3,800 total

Virginia History Civil War Book Titles for Additional Reading

The Author canvases the whole 292-day campaign for Petersburg and Richmond. Trudeau salts his narrative with healthy doses of official testimony and soldiers' personal accounts to create a brisk documentary flavor of campfire and war council. In minute detail he covers every clod of Virginia soil trod by Grant and Lee in the final days of the war. His telling of the horrors of the Crater and his vignettes of officers are compelling, but overall Trudeau fails to show how Petersburg was "the South's Gethsemane." The author writes about battles more than the Southern soul or the politics of war. Still, he dashes several myths about Petersburg--that Lee's army was starved and hopelessly outnumbered--and provides one of the most arresting narratives of any Civil War campaign. Written with a meticulous attention to its historical background and context, Lee Passarella's Swallowed Up In Victory: A Civil War Narrative Petersburg, 1864-1865 is an engrossing novel of the final year of the American Civil War, centering on the bloody attacks waged on Petersburg through the surrender at Appomattox. The letters and journal entries of a group of fictitious people swept up by the turmoil of war make for a unique story that feels as real and vivid as if the writings had been rescued from forgotten family records. A compelling Civil War story, Swallowed Up In Victory is enthusiastically recommended for historical fiction readers in general, and Civil War history buffs in particular.


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