122 .1 SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE
CHAPTER XXIV.
AROUND PETERSBURG.
Here it was that Negro soldiers covered them¬
selves with merited glory in the presence of white
troops on both sides; surprising in their daring to
officers trained at West Point, and that, too, on the
very soil where slavery first made its appearance in
this country.
The City of Petersburg lies on the Appomattox
river near the James, and not far from Richmond,
with which it has railroad connection, and formed
the base of supplies up the James for the troops in
defence of Richmond. It therefore became an im¬
portant point to reduce. It was strongly fortified
on all sides for miles out.
The Task of Taking the " Cockade City," as
it was called, fell to Gen. Smith, assisted by Gen.
Kautz, coming up on the east, Brooks following
Kautz; Martindale, who was to move up the Appo¬
mattox, and Hinks, who moved between the two. The
Black Brigade was under Gen. Hinks, who discov¬
ered a Confederate battery on a knoll six miles out
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