Art Bergeron
March 25, 1865
Wed Jul 25 13:06:19 2001


Your question relative to the Second Corps was not clear on which army's Second Corps you meant, but I think I can touch upon both of them and answer your question. When Lee approved Gordon's plan to attack Fort Stedman, Gordon's men had to be moved from their camps near Hatcher's Run to the lines east of Petersburg then occupied by Bushrod Johnson's division. This required that the latter be shifted out of the trenches and sent to replace Gordon's troops near Hatcher's Run. Two of Johnson's brigades were sent back to support Gordon's assault, along with several brigades from Heth's and Wilcox's divisions of Powell Hill's Third Corps. Moody's Brigade replaced one of the latter. By shifting these troops around, Lee obviously meant to deceive the Union troops about the planned attack.

The Union Second Corps received orders on the morning of March 25, as did the Sixth and Fifth corps, to probe the Confederate picket line between Petersburg and Hatcher's Run to look for any weaknesses created by the shifting of troops to attack Fort Stedman. The Federals here probably had no idea which Confederate brigades faced them.