Opportunity Lost - Petersburg VA
Posted by: 
Don.Morfe
N 37° 14.741 W 077° 21.420
18S E 290944 N 4124730
At 7 p.m. on June 15, 1864, the boom of Union cannons to the east foreshadowed a Union attack on the Dimmock Line. Minutes later, soldiers of the Union Eighteenth Corps broke through the undermanned Confederate line.
Waymark Code: WM133VA
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 09/09/2020
Views: 0
Opportunity Lost-Petersburg National Battlefield-- “At that hour, Petersburg was clearly at the mercy of the Federal commander, who had all but captured it.”
- Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard, CSA Confederate Commander, June 15, 1864
“Deeming that I held important points of the enemy’s line of works, I thought it prudent to make no farther advance.”
- Maj. Gen. William F. “Baldy” Smith, USA Union Commander, June 15, 1864
At 7 p.m. on June 15, 1864, the boom of Union cannons to the east foreshadowed a Union attack on the Dimmock Line. Minutes later, soldiers of the Union Eighteenth Corps broke through the undermanned Confederate line and swarmed over the works here at Battery 5. In two hours the Federals captured 1.5 miles of Petersburg’s defenses.
Though few Confederates stood between the Federals and the streets of Petersburg, Union Maj. Gen. William F. Smith stopped his advance to await reinforcements. Nine months of tedious, deadly siege would pass before the Federals would again have such an opportunity to capture Petersburg.
LOCATION: Marker can be reached from Petersburg Tour Road, on the left when traveling north. The marker is in the Petersburg National Battlefield on the Battery 5 Trail. The trailhead is located at the Visitor Center.
Visit Instructions:
To post a log for this waymark a photo of you, the sign at the waymark with your GPS in view must be uploaded.