Description
The Last Citadel is a ground-breaking full-length treatment of the most extensive military operation of the Civil Warthe investment of Petersburg, Virginia.The Petersburg campaign began on June 9, 1864, and ended on April 3, 1865, when Federal troops at last entered the city. It was the longest and most costly siege ever to take place on North American soil, yet it has been overshadowed by other actions that occurred at the same time period, most notably Sherman's famous March to the Sea, and Sheridan's celebrated Shenandoah Valley campaign. The ten-month Petersburg affair witnessed many more combat actions than the other two combined, and involved an average of 170,000 soldiers, not to mention thousands of civilians who were also caught up in the maelstrom. By its bloody end, the Petersburg campaign would add more than 70,000 casualties to the war's total.Petersburg was the key to the war in the East. It lay astride five major railroad lines that in turn supplied the Confederate capit
