3. The offensive strength of Lee had been sapped. From the time of the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House until the end of the war, except for local, small-scale actions, the Army of Northern Virginia was a defensive weapon only. This Army, although hurt, had not been crushed, and the Confederate flag still waved over Richmond. In June, after Cold Harbor, Grant decided to turn quickly to the south of Richmond and isolate the city and the defending troops by cutting the railroads which supplied it. To do this he would need to attack Petersburg. _The Strategic Importance of Petersburg_ According to the United States census of 1860, Petersburg was a city of 18,266 people. It was situated on the southern bank of the Appomattox River less than 8 miles from City Point, the place where the Appomattox joins the James; 23 miles north was Richmond. As the war progressed and the territory to the north and east was shut off, Richmond became increasingly dependent on Petersburg for supplies. Through it passed a constant stream of war materials and necessities of life from the South to sustain the straining war effort. In short, Petersburg was a road and rail center of considerable importance to the Confederacy. [Illustration: Map showing the network of railroads and the strategic location of Petersburg to Richmond. The shaded area is the approximate line of Union control in early 1864. The three arrows indicate the major drives planned by the Union Army for 1864. (Railroads serving Richmond and Petersburg are in heavy lines.) Railroads and important roads serving Petersburg in 1864. The dashed line indicates the original Confederate defense line built in 1862-63. January 1951, NMP-PET-7006] Railroads Richmond and Petersburg R. R. City Point R. R. Southside R. R. Norfolk and Petersburg R. R. Petersburg and Weldon R. R. Roads Richmond Turnpike CITY POINT ROAD JORDAN POINT ROAD PRINCE GEORGE C. H. ROAD BAXTER ROAD JERUSALEM PLANK ROAD BOYDTON PLANK ROAD ORIGINAL CONFEDERATE LINE COX ROAD SQUIRREL LEVEL ROAD HALIFAX ROAD VAUGHAN ROAD Confederate defenses _BATTERY 5_ _ORIGINAL CONFEDERATE LINE (THE “DIMMOCK LINE”)_