"At daylight on Sunday morning my command moved ... and arriving with axes, my men struck into the woods, felling trees as we advanced. At night we made a wide road for more than four miles good for the passage of Artillery and heavy trains ..."
- Colonel Wesley Brainerd, 50th New York Volunteer Engineers

The longest siege in American warfare unfolded in a methodical manner, with soldiers from both armies digging in for protection under the direction of engineers. Engineers from both armies provided educated designs of trenches, fortifications, bridges, and roads to provide soldiers protection and transportation routes during the months of fighting around Petersburg.