Okla-homey
4/3/2009, 06:33 AM
April 3, 1865: Richmond captured
http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/4216/fort373.jpg
President Lincoln's drive through Richmond after its fall to Federal forces
144 years ago today, the Rebel capital of Richmond falls to the Union, the most significant sign that the Confederacy is nearing its final days.
For ten months, General Ulysses S. Grant had tried unsuccessfully to penetrate the city's ring of defenses. After Lee made a desperate attack against Fort Stedman along the Federal line on March 25, Grant prepared for a major offensive.
He struck at Five Forks on April 1, crushing the end of Lee's line southwest of Petersburg. On April 2, the Yankees struck all along the Petersburg line, and the Confederates collapsed.
http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/2739/fortstedman.jpg
Federal assault of one of the forts anchoring the concentric rings of Confederate defenses around the Rebel capital.
On the evening of April 2, the Confederate government fled the city with the army right behind. Now, on the morning of April 3, blue-coated troops entered the capital.
http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/331/fort29861964193b461c2d7.jpg
Inside Richmond after its fall
http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/3002/fortlocomotiveruin2.jpg
http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/3356/fort11gallery06.jpg
Ruins of the Richmond arsenal
Richmond was the holy grail of the Union war effort, the object of four years of campaigning. Approximately 40,000 American lives were lost trying to get it or prevent its loss.
Now, the Yankees came to take possession of their prize. One resident, Mary Fontaine, wrote, "I saw them unfurl a tiny flag, and I sank on my knees, and the bitter, bitter tears came in a torrent."
As the Federals rode in, another wrote that the city's black residents were "completely crazed, they danced and shouted, men hugged each other, and women kissed." Among the first forces into the capital were black troopers from the 5th Massachusetts Cavalry, and the next day President Abraham Lincoln visited the city.
http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/921/fortlincoln.jpg
Statue of the Second Greatest American erected by the people of Richmond to commemorate his visit on April 4, 1865, just a few days before his murder at Ford's Theater
For the residents of Richmond, these were symbols of a world turned upside down. It was, one reporter noted, "...too awful to remember, if it were possible to be erased, but that cannot be."
http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/2623/insane7zo.jpg
http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/4216/fort373.jpg
President Lincoln's drive through Richmond after its fall to Federal forces
144 years ago today, the Rebel capital of Richmond falls to the Union, the most significant sign that the Confederacy is nearing its final days.
For ten months, General Ulysses S. Grant had tried unsuccessfully to penetrate the city's ring of defenses. After Lee made a desperate attack against Fort Stedman along the Federal line on March 25, Grant prepared for a major offensive.
He struck at Five Forks on April 1, crushing the end of Lee's line southwest of Petersburg. On April 2, the Yankees struck all along the Petersburg line, and the Confederates collapsed.
http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/2739/fortstedman.jpg
Federal assault of one of the forts anchoring the concentric rings of Confederate defenses around the Rebel capital.
On the evening of April 2, the Confederate government fled the city with the army right behind. Now, on the morning of April 3, blue-coated troops entered the capital.
http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/331/fort29861964193b461c2d7.jpg
Inside Richmond after its fall
http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/3002/fortlocomotiveruin2.jpg
http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/3356/fort11gallery06.jpg
Ruins of the Richmond arsenal
Richmond was the holy grail of the Union war effort, the object of four years of campaigning. Approximately 40,000 American lives were lost trying to get it or prevent its loss.
Now, the Yankees came to take possession of their prize. One resident, Mary Fontaine, wrote, "I saw them unfurl a tiny flag, and I sank on my knees, and the bitter, bitter tears came in a torrent."
As the Federals rode in, another wrote that the city's black residents were "completely crazed, they danced and shouted, men hugged each other, and women kissed." Among the first forces into the capital were black troopers from the 5th Massachusetts Cavalry, and the next day President Abraham Lincoln visited the city.
http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/921/fortlincoln.jpg
Statue of the Second Greatest American erected by the people of Richmond to commemorate his visit on April 4, 1865, just a few days before his murder at Ford's Theater
For the residents of Richmond, these were symbols of a world turned upside down. It was, one reporter noted, "...too awful to remember, if it were possible to be erased, but that cannot be."
http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/2623/insane7zo.jpg