Virginia in the Civil War - Module 8 - The Overland Campaign: Lee Faces Grant
Channel: Blue Ridge Streaming from WBRA-TV - Roanoke VA
Date: 2021-08-30

Sub-Chapter 1: Spotsylvania: The Bloody Angle 
The two sides resumed fighting at Spotsylvania, which differed from other battles in that the fighting lasted 14 days. Soldiers were not accustomed to fighting for such a long period. 
The nose of the Confederate defensive line was known as the "Bloody Angle." In Spotsylvania, on May 12, 1864, 2,500 Confederate and 6,000 Union soldiers fought for 20 hours straight in bloody hand-to-hand 
combat. At the end of the day, the Confederates fell back behind another series of earthworks and the battle continued for nine more days. 

Sub-Chapter 2: Defending the Valley 
That same spring, Union troops conducted a raid up the Shenandoah Valley to destroy crops there before the harvest and to create a passage through the Blue Ridge Mountains to Richmond. The Valley was mostly 
undefended.
VMI cadets marched 80 miles in the rain over four days to meet with more Confederate troops, under General John Breckenridge, a former Vice President of the US, to face the Union troops led by 13 General Franz Sigel. Ten cadets died in the fighting at the Battle of New Market. 
Despite the defeat, Grant kept on pushing Union troops towards Richmond but made very little headway against Lee’s Confederates. 
In June 1864, Grant’s determination led him to push his troops into a bloody frontal assault against entrenched Confederates at Cold Harbor. The result was one of the war’s bloodiest battles. 
Unable to defeat Lee, Grant resumed his attempts to maneuver around Lee’s army. Union engineers constructed a 2,200-foot bridge across the James River in just eight hours. 

Sub-Chapter 3: Trench Warfare: Petersburg Besieged 
In crossing the James River, Grant had gained a measure of separation from Lee and was well on the road to Petersburg. 
Grant wanted to end the war without a long siege in 1864, so he decided to build tunnels underneath the Confederate line, putting gunpowder at the end of the tunnel and blowing up the Confederate’s earthworks. 
The explosion killed or wounded 278 Confederates and created a massive crater. Union troops entered the Confederate lines but the 
Confederates reacted quickly, counterattacked, and the Union troops gained no real success at the Battle of the Crater. 

Sub-Chapter 4: The Valley in Flames 
In the summer of 1864, Union troops again entered the Shenandoah Valley, arriving in Lexington on June 11. There, Union General David Hunter ordered his men to destroy VMI before leaving for Lynchburg. 
To counter this incursion, Lee sent General Jubal Early and his troops towards Maryland. 
Early then gave up his attempt to take the capital and withdrew 
to the Valley. This is the last time Confederate forces would threaten Washington. 
Early could not get back and rejoin Lee, as Union General Philip Sheridan continued to attack Early and his men, forcing them to retreat further and further southward. On October 19, Early turned and launched a 
surprise attack on Sheridan’s men at Cedar Creek, but Sheridan personally led a Union counterattack and drove Early from the Valley. The Shenandoah Valley now officially belonged to Union forces. 

Sub-Chapter 5: Breaking the Siege 
On April 1, 1865, Grant ordered a final push on the railroad, attacking the Confederates at a junction known as Five Forks. @BlueRidgeStreaming 
On April 2, Union soldiers finally broke Lee’s defensive line at Petersburg. 
Lee sent Jefferson Davis a message stating that Petersburg and Richmond should be evacuated. 

Sub-Chapter 6: Richmond Abandoned 
With Grant’s success, there was no longer any question of saving Richmond. Confederate President Jefferson Davis and the government would have to evacuate the capitol. 
By April 3, 1865, most Confederate soldiers had left Richmond. The Confederate engineers then began setting fire to the city, burning areas of the city according to plan.

Sub-Chapter 7: Lee’s Retreat 
Lee knew he had to move fast either west to Lynchburg or south to South Carolina. 
Lee first moved his army to Amelia, then toward Farmville as he attempted to find rations for his army. This 
path led Lee and his men to Sailor's Creek, where they were attacked on three fronts by Union troops. This cost Lee a quarter of his army—7,700 men—and 8 of his generals would surrender. 
With the Union army on three sides, and the balance of Grant’s army closing in from Richmond, Lee was trapped. His only hope of escape was to create a hole through Grant’s line. 

Sub-Chapter 8: Appomattox 
 On April 9, 1865 (Palm Sunday), General Lee and General Grant met at the McLean House at Appomattox Courthouse to discuss surrender of the Confederate army. 
The terms of surrender were generous, as Lee’s men were allowed to go home without any prosecution or retribution. 
Grant made an announcement to his army that the Civil War was over and that "the Rebels are our countrymen again." Lee issued a farewell address to his men, commending them for their service. @BlueRidgeStreaming