Petersburg, Virginia 2 July 2014

 Petersburg, Virginia is an interesting town.  It is working very hard to restore its old town area, and, although it's a work in progress, it appears quite promising.

 The story of what happened at Petersburg, however, is hinted at here.  The round plaque indicates that the building was struck by Union Artillery at some time during the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign.

 Our first battlefield stop was at the visitor center.  Here, a display featuring wagon parts, a piece of a Union jacket, and other items helped depict the disarray of the battlefield.

 Arrayed around the sidewalk leading to the center were several pieces of ordinance that came into use during the campaign and the nine-month siege that was a brutal, but integral part of it.

Down a short trail from the visitor's center is this reproduction of The Dictator, a 13 inch mortar.  It could hurl a 214 pound explosive shell nearly a mile up and over Confederate defensive emplacements.  Although the specifications were forbidding, it was only marginally effective, at least partly due to its weight, which mandated that it could only be moved by rail car, so was limited to sites within less than a mile of a railroad. 

Ted appreciated that this redoubt and abates were kept free of vegetation, much as they would have appeared during the campaign.  Union forces made an initial breakthrough of the Confederate lines in this area, and but for the General William F. (Baldy) Smith's hesitation to follow up, could have possibly ended the campaign then and there. 

This campaign was very personal for Penny's family.  This is the Dinwiddie Courthouse.  A battle fought here took the life of one of Penny's distant cousins.

Difficult to see here, and in person for that matter, is what remains of The Crater.  Union forces dug a tunnel beneath Confederate lines and placed a large explosive charge in an effort to open a gap through which they could advance.  In anticipation of such a move, Confederate commanders, out of sight of the Union forces, constructed a second set of trenches behind the forward line.  When the explosives were set off, a huge crater was created, and Union forces poured into it, only to be fired down upon by Confederates behind the second line.  Another of Penny's distant cousins, Captain Henry A. Chambers, was present at the battle and wrote poignantly about the slaughter that ensued.

This field was where the battle, siege, and indeed, the Confederacy ended.  Here, cavalry under the command of General George Armstrong Custer finally managed to turn Lee's right flank, and rout Confederate forces.  Another of Penny's distant cousins, Brigadier General Eppa Hunton, was captured by Custer's forces.  The surrender at Appomattox was a scant seven days later.   All of Penny's cousins, mentioned here, fought for the Confederacy.  She had others who fought for the union.