Knowing that Grant would soon be reinforced by 50,000 men from the Shenandoah Valley under Sheridan, Lee put together an attack that he hoped would disrupt Grant’s plans. The target was Fort Stedman, a fort that was not only the closest to Confederate lines but also very close to the Military Railroad that supplied the Union forces. If Lee could break the Federal supply line closest to its port most of Grant’s army would be in grave danger. And if Lee could capture and destroy City Point itself – admittedly a long shot – the entire campaign might have to be abandoned.

John Gordon led a pre-dawn surprise attack that overran the Union fort. While one group of attackers pressed deeper into the Union rear area others spread out to the trench systems on either side to roll up neighboring batteries and redoubts.

But the Union response was swift. Union Ninth Corps commander John Parke ordered Hartranft’s reserve division to counterattack, stopping the Confederates before they reached the rail line. The Confederate attackers moving south from Fort Stedman were turned back by neighboring Fort Haskell. Soon Gordon’s men had been pushed back to Fort Stedman, which they knew they could not hold. The attack had failed, but retreat to Confederate lines meant recrossing open ground in daylight that was swept by killing artillery fire. Many were killed and wounded attempting it, but hundreds surrendered rather than make the try.

Grant realized that Lee must have dangerously thinned his lines to scrape together the men needed for the attack. He ordered an immediate advance all along the line. The Union Second and Sixth Corps were able to take the advanced picket trenches on the Confederate lines southwest of Petersburg, although the main trench lines still held.