209th Mountain Massacre

The struggles on the battlefield such as extreme weather, loss of supply of wood and building the railroads caused major hardships for the 209th infantry. My group for the 209tH Amendment had Chapter 3, which was “A Winter in the Army of the Potomac.” History on the 209th regiment is they were made up of volunteers that were willing to fight for them in war. On November 24th which is where it takes place in Chapter 3 is the regiment was transferred with other Pennsylvania regiments from the Army of the James to the army of the Potomac. The regiment was assigned to duty with the Ninth Corps and was soon after brigaded with the two hundredth and two hundred and eighth Pennsylvania regiments. Some background information on the Army of the Potomac

When they were crossing the army of the Potomac it mentioned how “it was rolling ground interspersed with many beautiful little streams.” It talks about how before they reached the grounds at Petersburg how nice the ground was but then it talks about how close there were to Petersburg’s and how the grounds now completely changed, in the amendment it talks about how “ the ground we were now traversing had been the locality of the some of Butler’s earlier operations and all of it, as well as the space between us and the Union advanced line near Petersburg, had been drenched with blood. I found it very interesting how before the reached Petersburg how nice the ground was and the scenery but as soon as they reached it how there view on the land had such a dramatic change and I found that extremely interesting. The railroad tracks had formally radiated from Petersburg to City Point, to Norfolk, and to Weldon. The two main generals that were talked about during this chapter is the battle between General Lee and General Grant. Grants Rail Road was a big aspect during this chapter. There was a railroad constructed of material which had been confiscated from the Weldon road, and which extended from the Commanding General’s head quarters and base of supplies at City point to the extreme left of his army. The railroad was constructed so it went up hill and down and also so that it

The Battle of the Weldon Railroad ended up providing a key element of the Union’s general Grant during the Petersburg Campaign. Because of the Union’s victory it resulted in the permanent capture of Confederate general Lee’s most important supply lines. Because of all of these troubles on August 18, Union Fifth Corps of the Army of the Potomac seized a portion of the vital railroad that connected Petersburg with Wilmington, North Carolina. At the end of the battle the Union troops would control the Weldon Railroad for the rest of the campaign. Because of this Lee had no choice but to get rid of his supplies from North Carolina and transfer them to Dinwiddie Court house. This supply line was not very efficient and was a huge target for Grants fifth offense at