Fort Stedman
Civil War Virginia

American Civil War
March 25, 1865

In a last-gasp offensive, General Robert E. Lee amassed nearly half of his army in an attempt to break through Grant's Petersburg defenses and threaten his supply depot at City Point. 

Directed by Major General John B. Gordon, the pre-dawn assault on March 25 overpowered the garrisons of Fort Stedman and Batteries X, XI, and XII. The Confederates were brought under a killing crossfire, and counterattacks led by Major Generals Parke and Hartranft contained the breakthrough, cut off, and captured more than 1,900 of the attackers.

During the day, elements of the II and VI Corps assaulted and captured the entrenched picket lines in their respective fronts, which had been weakened for the assault on Fort Stedman.

This was a devastating blow for Lee's army, setting up the Confederate defeat at Five Forks on April 1 and the fall of Petersburg on April 2-3.

Result(s): Union victory

Location: Petersburg

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

Date(s): March 25, 1865

Principal Commanders: Major General John G. Parke [US]; General Robert E. Lee and Major General John B. Gordon [CS]

Forces Engaged: Corps

Estimated Casualties: 3,850 total (US 950; CS 2,900)


The Cavalry at Appomattox
A Tactical Study of Mounted Operations During the Civil War's Climactic Campaign, March 27-April 9, 1865

72 Piece Civil War Army Men
Play Set 52mm Union and Confederate Figures, Bridge, Horses, Canon
  • 48 Union and Confederate Soldiers up to 2-1/8 inches tall
  • 4 Horses, 4 Sandbag Bunkers, 6 Fence Sections, 3 Cannon, 3 Limber Wagons (Ammo Carts)
  • Bridge, Small Barracks,
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Besides his weapons, the soldier needed a leather belt with a cap box for the percussion caps that fired his weapon, a box for his cartridges, a sling/scabbard for his bayonet, a haversack and/or knapsack to carry his rations and his few personal items
American Civil War Book Titles

The Last Confederate General: John C. Vaughn and His East Tennessee Cavalry
The first man to raise an infantry regiment in the state, and one of the very last Confederate generals to surrender.History has not been kind to Vaughn, who finally emerges from the shadows in this absorbing reassessment of his life and military career
Lee's Last Retreat: The Flight to Appomattox
Lee's troops were more numerous and far less faithful to their cause than has been suggested. Lee himself made mistakes in this campaign, and defeat wrung from him an unusual display of faultfinding
One Continuous Fight: The Retreat from Gettysburg and the Pursuit of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia
The first detailed military history of Lee's retreat and the Union effort to catch and destroy the wounded Army of Northern Virginia Complimented with 18 original maps, dozens of photos, and a complete driving tour with GPS coordinates of the entire retreat
Bloody Roads South: The Wilderness to Cold Harbor, May-June 1864
This chronicles the great 1864 Overland Campaign, forty days that marked the end of the Civil War. In detail the battles in Virginia's Wilderness to the combat at Spotsylvania the trap laid by Lee at the North Anna River, to the killing ground of Cold Harbor

Grant's Lieutenants: From Chattanooga to Appomattox
This new volume assesses Union generalship during the final two years of the Civil War. Steven Woodworth, one of the war's premier historians, is joined by a team of scholars-- Grimsley, Marszalek, and Hess, among others--who critique Ulysses S. Grant's commanders
Unconditional Surrender: U. S. Grant and the Civil War
This is the best juvenile biography on Ulysses S. Grant by a wide margin. Marrin has done an excellent job in introducing Grant to a young audience. I highly recommend it.


April 1865: The Month That Saved America
There was nothing inevitable about the end of the Civil War, from the fall of Richmond to the surrender at Appomattox to the murder of Lincoln. It all happened so quickly, in what was the most moving and decisive month not simply of the Civil War, but indeed, quite likely, in the life of the United States
The Passing of Armies: An Account Of The Final Campaign Of The Army Of The Potomac
The beginning of the final campaign of the Army of the Potomac against Confederate General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia. It was the spring of 1864 and General Grant had Lee and his army backing up toward what finally became the siege of Petersburg, Virginia.


Appomattox Courthouse
Civil War Picture Album
President Abraham Lincoln
Confederate President Jefferson Davis


Sources:
U.S. National Park Service
U.S. Library of Congress.