Charles Blackford

After driving through and around the Confederate army in the spring and summer of 1864, General Grant arrived at Petersburg, Virginia, a crucial rail junction lying south of Richmond. Cutting off and capturing Petersburg, Grant knew, would sever the capital's lifeline, eventually force General Lee to abandon the city and end the war. Also realizing these facts, Lee put up a stiff resistance, arranging the Army of Northern Virginia into heavily fortified positions. The siege of Petersburg would last through the winter and into early 1865 and, as Grant predicted, the city's fall would bring the war to a swift end.

In his letters home to his wife, Captain Charles Blackford describes the early days of the siege of Petersburg, rising prices in Richmond, and a failed attack by the Union army on the formidable Confederate defenses.

July 11th. We...