With Confederate defeat at Five Forks on April
1, Grant and Meade ordered a general assault against the Petersburg
lines by II, IX, VI and XXIV Corps on April 2. A heroic defense of Fort
Gregg by a handful of Confederates prevented the Federals from entering
the city that night. Lt. Gen. A.P. Hill was killed trying to reach his
troops in the confusion. After dark, Lee ordered the evacuation of
Petersburg and Richmond. Grant had achieved one of the major military
objectives of the war: the capture of Petersburg, which led to the fall
of Richmond, the Capitol of the Confederacy.