Despite the tremendous goal of President Lincoln to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond, there was never any real danger of this happening until late in the War. Early in the war, in 1862 General George McClellan, leader of the Union's Army of the Potomac, failed to even attack Richmond due to bad planning and the great generalship of the South. It seemed that the only way to take Richmond in 1864 under Grant was to lay siege on Richmond. Richmond endured a 10 month siege before it was captured. This seems almost impossible to believe that Richmond did not fall to the Union at the onset of the war. Such was the state of the Union's inept strategies and tactics.
The Union victory at the battle of Five Forks, which led to the breakthrough of Confederate front and the encirclement of the Petersburg's defensive line.
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The Confederacy moved its capital from Alabama to Richmond, Virginia. It remained there for the better part of the Civil War. Much to the concern of Lincoln as he could not understand why the Army of the Potomac could not capture it earlier. Richmond is a stone's throw away from Washington DC.
It closed one of the blockade-runners' favourite ports, and started the process of Union liberation of the Mississippi.
Because the Southerners had to pass Richmond and burn the crops the Union could get.
Early on in the US Civil War, the Union's plans to capture Richmond might have made the war shorter than it became. As efforts to accomplish this military operation faded, the fall of Richmond became less of a Union priority. Richmond fell in 1865. Even if did not surrender, the war was at a point where Southern military forces were weakened severely, so much so that Richmond was a non-factor in the opinion of many students of the war.
April 14, 1865
Although there are several parts to the Battle of Peterburgh as a whole it is condsidered a Union Victory. The fall of Petersburg significantly helped in the taking of Richmond, the Confederate capital.
The reason the capturing of the Confederacy capital in Richmond was so difficult for the Union to accomplish was because it was so well guarded. The Confederate Army, protected it because they felt the Confederacy would fall if Richmond fell.
The Union victory at the Battle of Five Forks, fought on March 19,1865 allowed the Union Army of the Potomac to outflank and break through the Confederate defensive system of Petersburg. That led to the seize of that city on April 2nd and to the fall of Richmond on April 3rd.
Despite the tremendous goal of President Lincoln to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond, there was never any real danger of this happening until late in the War. Early in the war, in 1862 General George McClellan, leader of the Union's Army of the Potomac, failed to even attack Richmond due to bad planning and the great generalship of the South. It seemed that the only way to take Richmond in 1864 under Grant was to lay siege on Richmond. Richmond endured a 10 month siege before it was captured. This seems almost impossible to believe that Richmond did not fall to the Union at the onset of the war. Such was the state of the Union's inept strategies and tactics.
In the American Civil War (War Between the States) the Confederate Capital, Richmond, Virginia, fell after the Battle of Five Forks on April 1, 1865, when the Union XXV Corps took the city. This defeat cut off Lee's escape route and both Richmond and Petersburg were evacuated the following day. See links below.
In the Civil War, Lee surrender his troops to Grant and the Union Army. His army, after the fall of Richmond and Petersburg, has been attempting to escape to the west so he could link up with another Confederate army under Joseph E. Johnston.
US President Lincoln and his cabinet believed that if Richmond was captured early in the war, it would bring the end of the rebellion very quickly. The capture of Richmond would have been a severe blow to the morale of the Confederates and also weaken President Davis' diplomatic relations with England and France. Also, Richmond was a major arms producer and the logistical and command center for the South. Lincoln was sure that all of Virginia would then fall and Union troops could continue their drive into North Carolina. The loss of Richmond, along with the state of Virginia and the occupation of North Carolina, would lead to the end of the Confederacy.
The Union victory at the Battle of Five Forks fought o n March 29,1865 was pivotal to the outflanking and breakthrough of the Confederate defensive system of Petersburg on April 2, 1865 and led to the fall of Richmond on the 3rd April.
Richmond was evacuated on April 2, 1865