The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-03-07
THE SIEGE OF SUFFOLK.
Story Of an Almost Forgotten Siege In
the Operations Against Richmond.
Battle of Chancellorsville-Long-
streets Failure ard Its Result.
Written for the Indianapolis journal.

written for the indianapolis Journal.
Not one in q hundred of the survivors of the
Union and confederate hosts have any recollec-
ton of the siege of Suffolk. yet. excepting only
the greatest operations of the principal armies in
the East and West, it was without peer in respect
TO- the number OF men engaged and the interests
that were at stake on both sides.
Suffolk is a pretty Virginian town of about a
thousand inhabitants, and lies on the southwest
ern edge of the Great Dismal swamp, about
twenty miles southwest of Norfolk. with which
city it has communication, as it had during the
war, by two railroads.&c. Norfolk u Peters
burg and the Seaboard & Roanoke-the latter
running to Weldon. N. c., on the Roanoke river.
Both roads pass, for several miles, through the
Dismal swamp. The western boundary of the
town is the Nansemond river. which at Suffolk is
less than a hundred yards from bank to bank. but
widens gradually in it's northward flow to the
James. into which it empties directly opposite and
south Of Newport News. Strategically, Suffolk
was valuable only as an outpost for Norfolk and
the Portsmouth 'navy-yard, for the only roads
by which the enemy could reach these points
were those passing through Suffolk. For this
reason the town was occupied. Immediately after
shO " 4 " q h-ASN
airy, infantry and artillery. aggregating about a
thousand men, and was strengthened but slowly
until the autumn of 1862, when Brigadier-gen-
eral Peck was suddenly sent from the Potomac
army with nine Thousand men to repel an ex-
pected attack by Generals French end Petit
grew, who had advanced to the Blackwater riv.
er. a stream about twenty miles west of Suffolk
and flowing due south to the Chowan. in North
Carolina.
The attack was not made. The size of Peek's
force led the enemy to believe that Suffolk was
to be a base of operations against Richmond.
so the confederate army that was to have seized
Suffolk went vigorously to work to fortify the
line of the Blackwater. General Peck. feeling
that his right was fairly protected by the Nanse-
mond, and his rear by the swamp. threw up a
strong earthwork on the edge of
the village TO command the approaches by the
front and left; additional works that were
planned could not be completed before the win
ter weather froze the ground.
About the end of February, 1868. General
Longstreet was sent with his entire corps from
Lees army to Petersburg, sixty miles northeast
of Suffolk, between which town and Petersburg
the railroad was in perfect condition. About
that time the Richmond papers began to init
q tldb w 10 III II sDO
western Carolinas. This ruse did not deceive
Peck. In his command was a battalion of cav
alry-the First New York Mounted Rifles.
which contained at least a dozen untiring anna
teur spies, who knew almost every human being
living between Suffolk and Petersburg. Finally,
when Longstreet advanced half his corps TO with
in q days march of Suffolk, Peck called for aid,
and was REINFORCED by General Getty's division
of the Ninth Corps.
While Longstreet was moving his corps to the
Blackwater, Gen. d. FL. Hill, with his own divis-
ion and other confederate troops. went to North
Carolina and menaced the posts which Gen. Eos
ter had occupied after Bdrnside's successful ex-
petition against Roanoke island. Upon this, or
ders came from Washington directing Peck to
send 3. 900 men to Fosters assistance. Just as
the troops were starting, April 10, spies and con-
trabands brought Peck word that Longstreet had
crossed the Blackwater. The next day the ad-
vance of Hoods division on one road, Pickets on
another, and others on the remaining roads lead
ing to and from Suffolk. surprised and captured
every picket outpost, and lively skirmishing be-
gan alone the entire front, within artillery range
of Suffolk. The smallest estimate ever made of
Longstreets force at this time was "a 600 effect
i've men; Peck had but little more than half as.
many. The enemy were well supplied
with artillery, and boldly made known
their purpose, which was to bridge the
river below the town-to do which they had a
sufficient pontoon train-seize the post-road and
two railroads to Norfolk. and thus cut Peck off
from his base of supplies. hold his only possible
lluc " TOtF6dC, anu CdpGur0 US 6uJlTo dTiuy. aIteF
which-or even hefore-the seizure of Ports
mouth and Norfolk would be easy. The valne
OF these two towns. with the port as a new and
convenient place of entry for blockade-runners,
anG the navy yard for purposes of construction
and repair, was quite evident to the authorities
at Richmond, not a hundred miles away.
There were absolutely no defenses on the Union
side of the N~ansemond. and to General Getty was
assigned the command of that entire portion of
the front-a line about five miles long. For a
few daVS there was no time for stOrVt0llinp and
but little for sleeping. Longstreets men were
equally busy, and their works. admirably located,
were so carefully masked that Getty knew of their
existence only when their artillery began to fight
for a place selected for a crossing. Many of the
enemy's guns were twenty four Founders; there
were also some thirty FOUNDER PARROTS and
large Whitworth guns. To oppose these Getty
could only bring light battery guns, moved rap
idly from place to place, as occasion required;
but they were differed and manned by regulars,
and always gave a good account of themselves.
1t is doubtful, however, whether these alone
would have prevailed against the heavier and far
more numerous guns of the enemy, in batteries
scarcely a mile apart. Some of the most effective
work on the Union side was done by several small
double-ender gunboats, most of them old ferry
boats, but CARRYING heavy guns. These-one of
them being under Ommand Of Lieutenant Cush.
ing, who afterward destroyed the confederate
ram Albemarle-crept up the stream, which was
too narrow for them to turn in. and delivered a
heavy fire, with good effect. They all suffered
severely; indeed, their action seemed foolhardy,
for the sinking of one in the narrow channel
would have left the others unable to escape. So
Admiral Lee ordered them out of the river, but
at the earnest request of General Peck they were
allowed to remain until Getty's works were COM
pleted.
Meanwhile General Dix. commanding the de-
partment, and General Halleck, commander-in.
chief, had become uneasy over the knowledge
that Longstreet had indeed sat down in earnest
before Suffolk. and that Hill was within helping
distance, so a week after the attack they ran
down to look at things. They found that Getty's
five miles of river front was strongly fortified,
some heavy guns were in position. and by fair
roads, most of them made within the week, the
light artillery could be quickly massed at almost
any point on the line; indeed, artillery dueling
was going on without c~essation. Two days be-
fore the arrival of the distinguished visitors
several hundred infantry had been taken across
the river by one OF the double-enders, and. with