Congressional Medal of Honor Society
110 Civil War - Battle of Petersburg Medal of Honor Recipients, Jun. 9, 1864 - Apr. 2, 1865
The Battle of Petersburg, Virginia, during the U.S. Civil War, encompassed combat, maneuver, and trench warfare between June 9, 1864, to April 2, 1865, and was the longest siege in American warfare. Union General Ulysses S. Grant focused on surrounding Petersburg and cutting off Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s supply route to the south, while other Union troops simultaneously attacked Richmond, straining the Confederacy to its breaking point. By February 1865, Grant’s numbers vastly outweighed Lee’s. On April 2, Union forces launched an assault that crippled Lee’s army, causing him to evacuate Petersburg. This siege resulted in 110 Medal of Honor Recipients.