| Fredericksburg and Petersburg, VA Civil War Sites |
| Being the history buff that I am, I visited two of the many, many Civil War battlefields in Virginia. I wish that I could have visited more, oh well, maybe next I'm in VA. |
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| These three pictures are from Fredericksburg, site of General Lee's greatest victory in 1862. Confederate troops soundly routed a much larger attacking Union army. To the left is a defensive stone wall and Sunken Road used by the Confederates as a defensive position. Directly above is Lee's Hill-used as a command post and artillery site by General Lee. Above and to the right is a map showing the location of a brief Union breakthrough that was soundly repulsed by a Confederate counterattack. |
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| The 1864-65 battle of Petersburg was a long 9-month siege. The Park Ranger noted that very few soldiers built momuments there because they did not want to remember the horrific battle(unlike Gettsyburg, Antietam, etc). To the left is the Crater, a pit created when Union miners set off a a bomb underneath Confederate lines. Unfortunately, Union troops trying to strom through got trapped in the Crater which quickly became filled with Union dead. |
| Above is Ford Stedman, a Union fort captured in General Lee's last desperate offensive. This offensive was stopped at nearby Harrison Creek. Union artillery at Ford Haskell(upper left) played a key role in the repulsion of this last Confederate attack. To the left is Confederate Battery #9, restored to look as it did in the war. Below is the site of the Breakthrough(at Pamplin Historical Park). This is where the siege of Petersburg was finally ended on April 2,1865 as Union troops finally broke through Confederate defenses and captured both Petersburg and Richmond, thus ending the last major battle of the Civil War. Lee would surrender one week later at Appamatox Court House. |
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| Above is the statue outside Pamplin Park and the Musuem of the Civil War soldier. The museum contained many intersting exhibits of Civil War life. To the right are costumed interpreters at Pamplin doing an artillery demonstration. Click here to return to my homepage. |