Lee Besieged: Grant’s Second Petersburg Offensive, June 18-July 1, 1864
- Current Stock:
- Author:
- John Horn
- Pub Date:
- Spring 2025
- ISBN:
- 978-1-61121-738-4
- eISBN:
- 978-1-61121-739-1
- Binding:
- Hardcover
- Specs:
- 40 images; 40 maps; 448 pp.
Ebook coming soon!
Click HERE to read the Front Matter and Chapter 1!
About the book
The nine-month siege of Petersburg was the longest continuous operation of the Civil War. Contrary to popular belief, it was anything but static trench warfare, as John Horn ably demonstrates in Lee Besieged: Grant’s Second Petersburg Offensive, June 18-July 1, 1864. Large-scale Union “offensives”—grand maneuvers that triggered some of the large-scale battles—broke the monotony of siege warfare. Once his First Offensive (the assaults of June 15-18) failed to capture the city, the Union commander planned and launched his next major effort within hours. This Second Offensive was one of the most dramatic operations of the entire war.
To pave the way for success, Grant brought the city’s bridges under the fire of his siege guns to slow the transfer of enemy troops in and out of Petersburg. He also seized a bridgehead at Deep Bottom on James River’s north bank to draw Confederate forces out of Petersburg by menacing Richmond. Next, he took more ambitious measures by sending infantry to hem in Petersburg from the Appomattox River above and below the city. The move was designed to cut the critical Weldon and South Side railroads and force the Rebels to abandon Petersburg and Richmond. As his infantry went to work, his cavalry set out to cut the Confederate railroads below Petersburg to slow reinforcements coming up from the south and west.
Grant’s opponent, however, was General Robert E. Lee with his veteran infantry, not the inept John Floyd of Fort Donelson or the distracted John C. Pemberton of Vicksburg. Lee and his infantry subordinate William Mahone marched to meet the enemy and in a stunning turn of events routed Grant’s foot soldiers at Jerusalem Plank Road. Together, Confederate cavalry leader Wade Hampton and Mahone smashed Grant’s troopers at the battles of Sappony Church and First Reams Station. Thousands of Federal prisoners of war flooded into Confederate camps. Not until April 1865, after seven more offensives, would Grant reach the Appomattox above Petersburg and force Lee to relinquish that city and the capital of Richmond.
This is tactical battle action at is finest. Horn’s explanation for the context and consequences of every decision is grounded in hundreds of primary sources and supported by 40 original maps. Lee Besieged: Grant’s Second Petersburg Offensive, June 18-July 1, 1864 is the first full-length book to put Grant’s second effort into its proper perspective—not only in the context of Petersburg’s siege and the Civil War, but in the context of warfare’s history.
Advance Praise
“I’ve been editing books and magazine articles on the Civil War for decades, but Lee Besieged is in a class of its own. Elegantly written and deeply researched, it abounds with judicious assessments of commanders, strategy, tactics, and leadership at all levels. Horn’s use of more than 1,000 quotations from participants on both sides puts everything in context and takes you back in time like few other books I have read. Highly recommended!” — Keith Poulter, publisher North & South magazine
“The Second Petersburg Offensive of late June 1864 is among the least understood operations of the entire campaign. Through exhaustive research, engaging prose, and thoughtful analysis, John Horn provides the most detailed account yet written of this Union effort to conquer the Cockade City.” — A. Wilson Greene, author of A Campaign of Giants: The Battle for Petersburg
“John Horn’s Lee Besieged adds considerably to our knowledge of the Petersburg Campaign. It is also the first to deal in depth with Grant’s ill-fated Second Offensive. It is yet another excellent study by Horn.” — Sean Michael Chick, author of The Battle of Petersburg, June 15–June 18, 1864
“John Horn’s Lee Besieged: Grant’s Second Petersburg Offensive adds a much-needed volume to his extensive writings and study of the Petersburg Campaign. Grant’s Second Offensive is often overlooked and hard to comprehend, but Horn’s thorough research and writing carries readers through every aspect of the offensive, providing enjoyment and understanding for the Civil War enthusiast. Firsthand accounts populate the narrative, adding powerful insights into the struggle and fighting of June 1864.” — Jerry Netherland, Petersburg Battlefields Foundation
Chicago native John Horn majored in English and Latin at New College (Sarasota, Florida) and has practiced law around Chicago since graduating Columbia Law School in New York in 1976. In addition to many articles, he has written three other books about Petersburg, Virginia’s soldiers, and the siege of that city, and co-edited another. John’s previous book, The Petersburg Regiment in the Civil War: A History of the 12th Virginia Infantry from John Brown’s Hanging to Appomattox, 1859-1861 (Savas Beatie) won the 2019 Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Award for Unit History. John is popular on the speaking circuit from coast to coast and has blogged at johnhorncivilwarauthor.blogspot.com since 2015. John’s wife and law partner hails from Richmond, Virginia, and they often visit relatives there.
