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[517] and the left flank of the army extended to insure its tenure. The main lines of supply by the Southside and the Danville roads were, however, well covered by Lee's army. The distance from the position of the army before Petersburg to the nearest point at which the Southside Railroad could be struck is from ten to fifteen miles, and to Burkesville—which, as the junction of the Southside and the Danville roads, is the strategic key to all the Confederate communications of Petersburg and Richmond—the distance is near forty miles. These, therefore, could not be reached by any extension of the Union intrenched line to the left, without dangerously weakening the front covering Grant's depot at City Point; but they could be operated against by a column able to cut itself loose from its base. 3. In the relative situations of the opposing armies, the line to be guarded by Lee was between thirty and forty miles, running from southwest of Petersburg to northeast of Richmond. There was, accordingly, open to General Grant a a great variety of tactical combinations, compelling, on the part of the Confederates, continued motion to the greatest distances from flank to flank, and visiting concentration on one flank by a sudden blow on the other. There also reremained the contingency of a good opening for direct assault, in case the Confederates should reduce the force within their lines of defence to meet these manoeuvres. In order to hold the actual front with a fractional force, and relieve as large a part of the army as possible for a column of active operations, the construction of a powerful line of redoubts was pushed forward, and a series of heavy batteries was placed in position to cover an assault, in case a suitable opening therefor should present itself. By the close of July, a system of earthworks covering the front then held by the army had been constructed and armed. Grant was then in position either to undertake direct assault or operate on the flanks of the Confederate line.
1866.
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