Smith arrived in front of the enemy’s lines early in the forenoon of the 15th, and spent the day until after seven o’clock in the evening in reconnoitering what appeared to be empty works.  The enemy’s line consisted of redans occupying commanding positions, with rifle-pits connecting them.  To the east side of Petersburg, from the Appomattox back, there were thirteen of these redans extending a distance of several miles, probably three.  If they had been properly manned they could have held out against any force that could have attacked them, at least until reinforcements could have got up from the north of Richmond.

Smith assaulted with the colored troops, and with success.  By nine o’clock at night he was in possession of five of these redans and, of course, of the connecting lines of rifle-pits.  All of them contained artillery, which fell into our hands.  Hancock came up and proposed to take any part assigned to him; and Smith asked him to relieve his men who were in the trenches.

Next morning, the 16th, Hancock himself was in command, and captured another redan.  Meade came up in the afternoon and succeeded Hancock, who had to be relieved, temporarily, from the command of his corps on account of the breaking out afresh of the wound he had received at Gettysburg.  During the day Meade assaulted and carried one more redan to his right and two to his left.  In all this we lost very heavily.  The works were not strongly manned, but they all had guns in them which fell into our hands, together with the men who were handling them in the effort to repel these assaults.

Up to this time Beauregard, who had commanded south of Richmond, had received no reinforcements, except Hoke’s division from Drury’s Bluff,(37) which had arrived on the morning of the 16th; though he had urged the authorities very strongly to send them, believing, as he did, that Petersburg would be a valuable prize which we might seek.

During the 17th the fighting was very severe and the losses heavy; and at night our troops occupied about the same position they had occupied in the morning, except that they held a redan which had been captured by Potter during the day.  During the night, however, Beauregard fell back to the line which had been already selected, and commenced fortifying it.  Our troops advanced on the 18th to the line which he had abandoned, and found that the Confederate loss had been very severe, many of the enemy’s dead still remaining in the ditches and in front of them.

Colonel J. L. Chamberlain, of the 20th Maine, was wounded on the 18th.  He was gallantly leading his brigade at the time, as he had been in the habit of doing in all the engagements in which he had previously been engaged.  He had several times been recommended for a brigadier-generalcy for gallant and meritorious conduct.  On this occasion, however, I promoted him on the spot, and forwarded a copy of my order to the War Department, asking that my act might be confirmed and Chamberlain’s name sent to the Senate for confirmation without any delay.  This was done, and at last a gallant and meritorious officer received partial justice at the hands of his government, which he had served so faithfully and so well.