The Union Picket Line

On June 18th 1864, the fourth day of continuous fighting as Union troops tried to seize Petersburg, Union soldiers charged down the ridge to the east and forced Confederates out of the railroad cut. Under fire from Confederate sharpshooters, they advanced over the creek and up the hill through what had been a wheat field, coming within yards of the Confederate line to the west before severe fire stopped them. There they dug in with bayonets, tin cups, plates, and spoons. Colonel Bolton of the 31st Pennsylvania recalled, "Our position however hold, Poo[r] Creek (below here) ran red with blood and the flag of the 2nd. Mich. was found floating down the little stream." The next day these soldiers were replaced by troops that included the 48th Pennsylvania, a regiment of mostly miners who quickly proposed mining under the Confederates in front of them in an effort to change the course of the siege.

Petersburg, Virginia · United States