Chaffin's Farm | Attack on Fort Gilmer | Sep 29, 1864

In late September 1864, General Ulysses S. Grant initiated an operation to cut General Robert E. Lee’s supply lines at Petersburg by orchestrating a diversionary attack on Richmond. General Benjamin Butler's Army of the James crossed the James River to assault Richmond’s defenses. Initial Union successes included the capture of Fort Harrison, but Confederate forces quickly regrouped and contained the breakthrough. On September 30, Lee's counterattack to recapture the fort failed, and Union forces entrenched while Confederates erected a new defensive line to isolate the captured forts. As Grant anticipated, Lee diverted 10,000 troops to counter the threat to Richmond, thereby weakening his defenses west of Petersburg.