The Siege of Petersburg

The day after the Union’s success at Five Forks, Petersburg finally fell to Union troops after a nearly 300-day siege. The thinly spread Confederate lines, seen in this stereocard from the 1864 battles in Petersburg, were unable to hold off the onslaught of attacks that rained down during the night following the Battle of Five Forks. By the next afternoon, Lee and his troops began retreating from Petersburg and the Confederate government in Richmond evacuated the city.