How Important Was The Siege Of Petersburg In The Civil War

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The Siege of Petersburg is the popular name for the series of battles, skirmishes, and trench warfare that took place around Petersburg, Virginia in the last year of the Civil War. Petersburg was just twenty miles south of the capital of the Confederacy at Richmond and was the transportation hub for railroads coming in from the south and west. Its loss would make it impossible to hold Richmond. Petersburg has been called the longest siege in American military history, but it was not really a siege. The Confederate supply lines were never totally cut, Lee could have marched his army away at any time, and reinforcements came and went throughout the fighting. But Lee's army was tied to the Confederate capital - the loss of Richmond would be