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Stop Six of the Petersburg Eastern Front Auto Tour is at Fort Haskell, part of the Union line of fortifications.
A short walk from the parking lot across the street leads into the rectangular earthworks of the fort. A single wayside marker faces north toward Fort Stedman, which had been captured on March 25, 1865 in the last major Confederate assault of the war.
Even though Union troops further along the line fired into Fort Haskell in the belief that it, too, had fallen, a Confederate attack from Fort Stedman was turned back with heavy losses. Combined with counterrattacks by reinforcing troops that recaptured Fort Stedman, this ended what was the last major attack by Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia in the Civil War.
The entrance to Fort Haskell
Defending Fort Haskell wayside marker
The marker is inside the earthworks of the fort, facing north toward Fort Stedman. (37°13’34.1″N 77°22’12.7″W)
Text from the marker:
Defending Fort Haskell
Daylight on March 25, 1865, brought furious fighting to Fort Haskell.
“Our thin line mounted the banquette – the wounded and sick loading the muskets, while those with sound hands stood to the parapets and blazed away.”
– George L. Kilmer, 14th N.Y. Heavy Artillery
Dazed Union survivors of the attack at Fort Stedman jammed into Haskell, where Southern artillery and the captured guns at Fort Stedman bombarded them. Union artillery to the south, thinking Fort Haskell had fallen, opened fire too. Then, soon after daylight, a Confederate division moved out of Fort Stedman and attacked Haskell through the ravine in front of you.
Union Infantrymen and three cannons along this parapet of Fort Haskell raked the Confederate lines. Only a few Confederates made it out of the ravine, and few of those who did survived.
Location of Stop 6 – Fort Haskell
Tour Stop Six – Fort Haskell is about 1.8 miles from the Visitor Center. (37°13’34.1″N 77°22’12.7″W)
Directions to the next stop on the Petersburg Eastern Front Tour:
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