After the Union army failed to capture Petersburg in a direct assault, Grant's objective was to swing west and cut all roads and rail lines feeding in to the city that supplied the Confederate army. Through the summer and fall of 1864, General Grant used his numeric superiority to employ simultaneous engagements at Petersburg and Richmond forcing Lee to defend both cities and in turn diminish the Confederate response.

For the control of these dirt roads and rail lines more than 42,000 men became casualties in the last eight months of the siege. These men were traded for the life these routes provided the Confederate cause and the victory their demise meant to the Union.