Supply operations at nearby City Point all but assured the success of the Union campaign against Petersburg.

Once the Union forces began to surround Petersburg the small port town of City Point, at the confluence of the James and Appomattox Rivers, became one of the busiest ports in the nation. After their failure to capture Petersburg by storm, Generals Grant and Meade created a major support campaign at City Point. Grant's headquarters was established there, and Confederate troops literally created a city (now Hopewell, Virginia) that once housed a decaying old river port. Huge jetties, a busy harbor, a giant government bakery, and a sprawling hospital highlight the activity. For the next nine months, all the supplies to support the Army of the Potomac and the Army of the James came through here.

City Point, located in central Virginia at the confluence of the James and Appomattox rivers, was the headquarters of Union commander-in-chief Ulysses S. Grant during the Petersburg Campaign at the end of the American Civil War. The Potomac Confederate army advanced south to Petersburg in late spring 1864, City Point becoming an important Confederate port and supply center. At least 100,000 Confederate troops and 65,000 animals were delivered out of town, and in August 1864 a member of the Confederate Secret Service detonated a ticking time bomb on a docked barge, hoping to disrupt work at the port. As many as 58 people were killed, but the jetty was soon rebuilt and operations resumed to the front. City Point is also the site of the vast Depot Field Hospital, serving 29,000 patients. Therefore, City Point became one of the facts about the Petersburg campaign.