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Fort Fisher is Stop 3 on the Petersburg National Battlefield Western Front Auto Tour.
At the end of September, 1864 Grant planned once again to sweep around the left flank of the Confederate defences to choke off Petersburg. After launching a major attack on the lines around Richmond which forced Lee to transfer men from the defensive lines around Petersburg, Grant sent four divisions of infantry and one of cavalry out from the Union lines at Fort Wadsworth. They overran Confederate Fort Archer and broke the lines along Squirrel Level Road. Lee was able to counterattack and, at the Battle of Peeble’s Farm, stop the advance. But Union forces held the ground and dug in. The newest flank of the Union line became Fort Fisher, eventually the largest fort in the Union siege line.
This view looks south from the parking area along Flank Road. Two markers are beside the path that leads to the entrance of the fort. A foot bridge carries the path across the defensive ditch of the fort and into its interior (see view from entryway), which extends to the treeline in the distance. This was the largest of the forts in the Union siege lines.
An orientation marker and a wayside marker are in front of the entrance to the fort:
Location of Stop 3
Stop 3 on the Petersburg National Battlefield Western Front Auto Tour is Fort Fisher, on the northeast corner of the intersection of Church Road and Flank Road. (37°10’27.6″N 77°27’13.2″W)
Directions to the next stop on the Auto Tour, Stop 4:
Leave the parking area along Flank Road and turn right on Church Road. Continue for 1.4 miles to Weakley Road. Turn right and continue 0.5 mile. Turn left on Simpson Road for just 120 yards and turn right on 7th Avenue. The parking lot for Stop 4 is on the right in another 120 yards.