First Battle of Petersburg The First Battle of Petersburg was an unsuccessful Union assault against the earthworks fortifications — the Dimmock Line — protecting the city of Petersburg , Virginia , June 9 , 1864 , during the American Civil War . Because of the rag - tag group of defenders involved , it is sometimes known as the Battle of Old Men and Young Boys . Background . In early June 1864 , Lt . Gen . Ulysses S . Grant and Gen . Robert E . Lee were engaged in the Overland Campaign , facing each other in their trenches after the bloody Battle of Cold Harbor . Meanwhile , Maj . Gen . Benjamin Butler was bottled up in the Bermuda Hundred area to the east of Richmond , Virginia , attempting to distract Lee by attacking Richmond . Butler realized that Richmond was supplied by railroads that converged in the city of Petersburg , to the south , and that taking Petersburg would cripple Lee ' s supply lines . He was also aware that Confederate troops had been moving north to reinforce Lee , leaving the defenses of Petersburg in a vulnerable state . Sensitive to his failure in the Bermuda Hundred Campaign , Butler sought to achieve a success to vindicate his generalship . He wrote , " the capture of Petersburg lay near my heart . " Petersburg was protected by fortifications known as the Dimmock Line , a line of earthworks long , east of the city , including 55 artillery batteries , and anchored on the Appomattox River . The 2 , 500 Confederates stretched thin along this defensive line were commanded by a former Virginia governor , Brig . Gen . Henry A . Wise ; the overall defense of Richmond and Petersburg was the responsibility of Gen . P . G . T . Beauregard , commander of the Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia . Butler ' s plan was formulated on the afternoon of June 8 , 1864 , calling for 3 columns to cross the Appomattox and advance from City Point ( now named Hopewell , Virginia ) with 4 , 500 men . The first and second consisted of infantry from Maj . Gen . Quincy A . Gillmore ' s X Corps and U . S . Colored Troops from Brig . Gen . Edward W . Hinks ' s 3rd Division of XVIII Corps , which would attack the Dimmock Line east of the city . The third was 1 , 300 cavalrymen under Brig . Gen . August Kautz , who would sweep around Petersburg and strike it from the southeast . If any of these three forces made a breakthrough , it would be able to move into the rear of the defenders opposing the other two . Butler originally designated Hinks to command the operation , but Gillmore insisted that he was the senior officer and Butler later complained , " I was fool enough to yield to him . " Battle . The troops moved out on the night of June 8 , but made poor progress . The column of Gillmore ' s infantry got lost in the dark . Although Hinks arrived on time , he was ordered to wait for Gillmore so that all of the infantry could cross before the cavalry . Eventually the infantry crossed by 3 : 40 a . m . on June 9 and were ordered to move forward against the enemy ' s picket line at daylight . By 7 a . m . , both Gillmore and Hinks had encountered the enemy , but stopped at their fronts . Gillmore , an engineering officer with no experience leading troops in combat , hesitated at the sight of the formidable earthworks . Hinks also felt that the Confederate defenses were too strong and that he could not move forward unless Gillmore attacked with him . Gillmore told Hinks that he would attack but that both of the infantry columns should await the cavalry assault from the south . Kautz ' s men did not arrive until noon , however , having been delayed en route by numerous enemy pickets . They assaulted the Dimmock Line where it crossed the Jerusalem Plank Road ( present - day U . S . Route 301 ) , at Battery 27 , also known as Rives ' s Salient , with 150 militiamen , commanded by Maj . Fletcher H . Archer , manning two artillery lunettes . Kautz launched a probing attack by the 5th Pennsylvania Cavalry against the militiamen , then paused and ordered his men to dismount . Confederate Brig . Gen . Raleigh E . Colston , who happened to be in the city without assignment at the time , brought forward a 12 - pound howitzer to fire at the Union cavalrymen , but found that he had no antipersonnel rounds . Colston retreated under pressure as the 5th Pennsylvania Cavalry , the 1st District of Columbia Cavalry , and the 11th Pennsylvania Cavalry began to flank him . Kautz then launched his main attack by the 11th Pennsylvania against the Home Guard , a group consisting primarily of teenagers , elderly men , and some wounded soldiers from city hospitals . The Home Guards retreated to the city with heavy losses , but by this time Beauregard had been able to bring reinforcements from Richmond to bear : the 4th North Carolina Cavalry , part of the 7th Confederate States Cavalry from the Bermuda Hundred line , and an artillery battery . They were able to repulse the Union assault . Kautz , hearing no activity on Gillmore ' s front , presumed that he was left on his own and withdrew . Aftermath . Confederate casualties were about 80 , Union 40 . Butler was furious with Gillmore ' s timidity and incompetence and arrested him . Gillmore requested a court of inquiry , which was never convened , but Grant later reassigned him and the incident was dropped . On June 14 – 17 , Grant and the Army of the Potomac slipped away from Lee and crossed the James River . They began moving towards Petersburg to support and renew Butler ' s assaults . The Second Battle of Petersburg and the Siege of Petersburg would soon follow .