JERUSALEM PLANK ROAD, Engage ment near. After the battle of Cold Harbor (q.v.), 1-3 June 1864, General Grant crossed to the- south of James River, made unsuccessful assaults upon the Petersburg intrenchments, 15 18 June, and- then determined to invest the city partially by a line of works toward the South Side Railroad, and by the evening of the 21st the Fifth corps rested its left on the Jerusalem Plank Road. The Second corps, followed by the Sixth, was moved across the road with the intention of seizing the Weldon Railroad at a point near Globe Tavern next day, and with the expectation of seizing also the South Side Rail road, and cutting Lee's communication with Lynchburg. At night the Sixth corps was in rear of the left of the Second. The orders for the 22d were that the Fifth corps should hold fast its position in front of the Confederate in trenchments, while the Second and Sixth swung to the right, and forward on its left, each division intrenching as it came into line. In the movement the corps commanders at first were directed to keep up connection, then they were ordered to move without regard to each other, each taking care of his own flanks. The Second and Sixth corps moved chiefly through densely wooded thickets; the Second on the right and near the Confederate works; the Sixth at right angles to the Second toward the Weldon Railroad. Gibbon's division of the Second corps had swung in on the left of the Fifth and entrenched, Mott's division was in trenching, and Barlow's division, on the left, was not yet in position, when the last named was attacked. Gen. A. P. Hill had been sent down the Weldon Railroad to oppose Meade's attempt upon it. He had the three divisions of
Wilcox, Mahone and Bushrod Johnson. Leav ing Wilcox to oppose the Sixth corps, which had not come up on the left of the Second, Hill, about 3 P.M., passed Mahone and Johnson through the opening between the two corps and struck Barlow in flank and rear, driving him back in confusion to the position from which he had advanced In the morning" and taking many prisoners. Mott's division, on Barlow's right, fell back precipitately, and then Hill struck Gibbon's left brigade in front, flank and rear, causing it to give way and abandon a bat tery of four guns. So sudden and unexpected was this attack upon Gibbon that the greater part of several regiments were captured with their colors. Gibbon made an unsuccessful effort to recover the lost portion of his line. Hill returned to his intrenchments, leaving some force on the railroad, and toward evening the Second corps was thrown forward; hut it was not until next morning that it occupied the ground from which it had been driven, the Sixth corps, forming on its left, thrown back facing the Weldon Railroad, and about a mile from it. The Union loss on the 22d, confined almost entirely to the Second corps, was nearly 2,000, of whom about 1,700 were prisoners. The Confederate loss is unknown. Consult 'War of Rebellion — Official Records' (Vol. XL, Washington 1889-1901) ; Humphreys, A. A., 'The Virginia Campaign of 1864-65' (New York 1883) ; Walker, F. A., 'History of the Second -Army Corps' (New York 1886).