page_title: Siege of Petersburg
section_title: Battle of First Deep Bottom
hierarchical_section_title: Siege of Petersburg / Battle of First Deep Bottom
caption_attribution_description: English: Photograph of the view across the James River, looking south, from Deep Bottom Park, Henrico County, Virginia.
context_page_description: The Richmond–Petersburg Campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865. Fought during the American Civil War, it is more popularly known as the Siege of Petersburg. But it was not a classic military siege, in which a city is usually surrounded and all supply lines are cut off. Nor was it strictly limited to actions against Petersburg. The campaign consisted of nine months of trench warfare in which Union forces commanded by Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant assaulted Petersburg unsuccessfully. Then the Union Army constructed trench lines that eventually extended over 50 miles. They ran from the eastern outskirts of Richmond, Virginia, to around the eastern and southern outskirts of Petersburg. Petersburg was critical to the supply of Confederate Lieutenant General Robert E. Lee's army and the Confederate capital of Richmond. Numerous raids were conducted and battles fought in attempts to cut off the railroad supply lines through Petersburg to Richmond. Many of these caused the lengthening of the trench lines, overloading dwindling Confederate resources.
context_section_description: Continuing their attacks, the Union Army under Grant began their third offensive against Richmond-Petersburg. General Winfield Scott Hancock's II Corps and two divisions of General Philip Sheridans cavalry crossed the James River at the "Deep Bottom" oxbow. They crossed at night to threaten Richmond. The plan called for the infantry to push the Confederates to the west. Then the cavalry could attack the railroad that connected Lee to the Confederate army under General Jubal Early still in the Shenendoah Valley. Sheridan's cavalry was then to attack Richmond if possible. But after breaking through the Confederate line, the Union offensive stalled. The Union cavalry was counterattacked by Richard H. Anderson's Confederate infantry. But the counterattack was defeated by the dismounted cavalry with their Spencer repeating carbines. But late on July 28, Hancock and Sherman withdrew back to Deep Bottom. The next night, July 29/30, they crossed the James River back to their own lines. They left a garrison to guard the crossing at Deep Bottom. Both sides could claim a victory. The Union forces defeated the Confederate infantry at Darby farm. But the withdrawal afterwards allowed the Confederates a victory. It was a Union victory strategically because their attack on the Virginia Peninsula caused Lee to move five and a half divisions north of James River. This weakened Petersburg leaving only four Confederate divisions to fight there. While Hancock and Sheridan were diverting Lee's attention, a mining operation was going on at Petersburg. A 511 feet (156 m) long tunnel was being dug by a regiment of Pennsylvania coal miners. It was dug right up to a Confederate strongpoint.
caption: Photograph of Deep Bottom on the James River
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