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Siege of Petersburg Sampler: June 22, 1864: Mahone’s Devastating Attack

Selected Samples from the Siege of Petersburg Online: June 22, 1864

William Mahone’s Division Attacks the Union Second Corps

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Description: These two maps are some of the best freely available maps I have on my entire site.  First, I’d like to thank Petersburg Campaign author John Horn for his generosity in allowing me to sketch a map from his upcoming regimental history on one of the Virginia regiments of Mahone’s Brigade.  Second, a map covering both the Battle of Jerusalem Plank Road and the Crater is fairly accurate as well.

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Description: These unpublished reports for Lane’s Brigade, Wilcox’s Division, give some idea of what Wilcox’s Division did to support Mahone’s main attack.  This is one of the more exciting finds I’ve had since starting this site.  All of these unpublished reports are available online in the James H. Lane Papers at Auburn University’s Special Collections and Archives site.  I was granted permission to reproduce transcriptions of these reports here at the Siege of Petersburg Online, and I’m happy to share with readers.

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Item: NP: July 20, 1864 Augusta (GA) Daily Constitutionalist: Letter from the 48th Georgia

Description: This letter from a member of the 48th Georgia provides the perspective of Wright’s Brigade, Mahone’s Division, during Mahone’s attack on the Second Corps on June 22, 1864.

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Item: George S. Gove Letter: June 23, 1864

Description: Gove, a member of the Second Corps’ 5th New Hampshire, was fortunate in that his unit was further from the initial point of Mahone’s assault.  As a result, his company and regiment suffered less severely than others, even maintaining enough unit cohesion to get behind the works along the Jerusalem Plank Road to help finally blunt the Confederate advance.

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Item: LT: June 25, 1864 Philip W. Pringle

Description: Pringle, of the 102nd Pennsylvania, was also one of the lucky Union soldiers like Gove.  He noted “We was nearly captured the other evening. The Rebs got behind some of our boys but we all got out safe but one or 2.”

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Item: June 24, 1864 James J. Sherman (Letter)

Description: Sherman’s 8th New York Heavy Artillery, acting as infantry at this point in the war, counterattacked Mahone’s forces, helping to stabilize the breakthrough.  Lieutenant Colonel Willard W. Bates was mortally wounded leading the regiment.  Kathryn Lerch, regimental historian of the 8th New York Heavy Artillery, has provided me with a large number of first person reminiscences for the regiment.

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