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First Deep Bottom

Just before Christmas 2025, the Richmond Battlefields Association successfully acquired two adjacent tracts of core battlefield land at First Deep Bottom. This acquisition of "Bradbury Knoll" ensures the permanent protection of a site where tactical maneuvers once dictated the fate of the Union’s grand strategy.

first deep bottom map

(Map courtesy of the American Battlefield Trust)

July 1864

By mid-summer 1864, the Union and Confederate armies were locked in a grueling stalemate at Petersburg. To break the deadlock, Union General Ulysses S. Grant authorized the construction of a mine beneath Confederate lines. As a diversion to weaken the Petersburg defenses, Grant launched an offensive toward Richmond.

On July 27, General Winfield S. Hancock’s Second Corps and Philip Sheridan’s cavalry crossed the James River at Deep Bottom. Their objective was to destroy the Virginia Central Railroad, a vital supply artery for the Confederate capital. Hancock’s infantry quickly collided with General Joseph Kershaw’s forces at Bailey’s Creek. In a sharp opening engagement, the Federals drove the Confederates back to their primary entrenchments.

Alarmed by the threat to Richmond, Lee dispatched heavy reinforcements under General Richard Anderson. This buildup bolstered the Confederate line and led to a fierce counterattack on July 28. Realizing the diversion had served its purpose by drawing Lee's reserves away from Petersburg, Grant ordered a withdrawal. By the time the Confederates prepared a final assault on July 30, the Union forces had vanished back across the James.

That same day, the Federals detonated the Petersburg mine. Despite the strategic maneuvering at Deep Bottom that left the Petersburg lines vulnerable, the resulting Battle of the Crater was a Union disaster due to poor leadership and tactical execution. This failure neutralized the strategic gains made at Deep Bottom, ensuring that the brutal fighting along the Petersburg-Richmond front would grind on for eight more agonizing months.

acres saved

Above: Capture of four 20-pound Parrot Guns by Miles's Brigade, Barlow's Division, July 27, 1864. . The Union's tactical breakthrough at the edge of the woods allowed them to enfilade the Confederate line, forcing a chaotic retreat of Southern artillery.

Deep Bottom Landing 
Union pontoon bridge across the James River.

Battle of the Crater 
The First Battle of Deep Bottom served as a critical diversionary prelude to the Battle of the Crater, successfully drawing a majority of Lee’s forces north of the James River and leaving the Petersburg defenses vulnerable just before the Union mine was detonated (image oil on canvas by John Adams Elder).