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First assault on Petersburg.

Shortly after that hour, Smith moved by the Baxter Road upon the works in front of Batteries 6 and 7, but the men of Wise's brigade resisted his repeated assaults with “unsurpassed stubbornness” --I use the exact language of Beauregard1--while the rapid fire of the light batteries completed for the time his discomfiture.

Smith had been told that the works defending Petersburg were such that “cavalry could ride over them” --“a representation,” says Mr. Swinton archly, “not justified by his experience,” and he now proceeded to reconnoitre more carefully what was in his front.


1 For the Confederate operations from the 15th to the 19th June, Inclusive, I am greatly indebted to General Beauregard's Ms. Report, kindly placed at my disposal.

Richmond, VA. 1876.

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Kirby Smith (2)
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