Petersburg • East • Southeast • West • Monuments • Markers • Facts • Timeline
The Siege of Petersburg and Prelude to Petersburg orientation markers are at Stop One on the Petersburg National Battlefield Eastern Front Auto Tour. They are on the walking trail leading from the Visitor Center and parking area to Battery 5.
The Siege of Petersburg Orientation Marker
Text from the marker:
The Siege of Petersburg
“I would not believe before I came here that man was capable of enduring so much.”
-Lawrence Bradley, 1st Mass. Heavy Artillery
If Petersburg fell, the Confederate capital at Richmond would fall too. Grant knew it; Lee knew it. And for nine months in 1864 and 1865 Union and Confederate armies waged a brutal campaign here that left the Confederacy on the verge of total defeat.
At Petersburg, the war in Virginia transformed from a whirlwind succession of marches and battles into a methodical struggle of endurance and hardship.
Touring the Battlefield
Petersburg National Battlefield includes four major historic areas. A driving tour links the Eastern Front and Western Front units with the Five Forks Battlefield.
Grant’s Headquarters at City Point Unit is located about eight miles northeast of Petersburg in the city of Hopewell. You can start your visit in the visitor center, where brochures and additional tour information are available.
- The Eastern Front sites span the entire siege, including the opening assaults in June 1864, the spectacular blast at the “Crater” in July, and Lee’s last offensive, at Fort Stedman, in March 1865.
- The Western Front links fortifications, and battle sites related to the Union’s efforts to cut Petersburg’s suply lines – efforts that ultimately stretched the Confederate defense lines to their breaking point. Poplar Grove National Cemetery is located here as well.
- At Five Forks Battlefield, on April 1, 1865 the Union army defeated and captured nearly one-fifth of Lee’s entire force. Petersburg and Richmond fell two days later.
- During the siege, City Point was one of the busiest ports in America. From his headquarters there, Grant directed the movement of Union armies throughout the South.
Captions to photos at the bottom:
Converging rail lines made Petersburg the southern gateway to Richmond.
By the end of the siege more than 100 miles of earthworks marred the landscape around Petersburg. At the bottom of the marker is a timeline of the campaign and siege.
Prelude to Petersburg orientation marker
Text from the marker:
Prelude to Petersburg
1864 Overland Campaign
On May 4, 1864, the Federal Army crossed the Rapidan River twenty miles west of Fredericksburg. The next day Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s forces struck the Union army in the Wilderness, opening a month-long campaign of nearly non-stop fighting and staggering casualty tolls.
Ater the Wilderness, Lee attempted to block Union General Ulysses S. Grant’s southward drive toward Richmond at Spotsylvania Court House, then along the North Anna River, again at Totopotomoy Creek and finally at Cold Harbor, just eight miles from Richmond. At Cold Harbor Grant’s headlong assaults into Lee’s line on June 1 and June 3 failed. Undaunted, he marched his army south to Petersburg and began the long process of cutting Richmond’s supply lines.
Text from the map:
Wilderness
The fighting in the thick wods west of Fredericksburg produced nearly 30,000 casualties but no clear winner.
Spotsylvania Court House
Grant ignored the indecisive results of the WIlderness and pressed southward. Lee blocked him here and for two week close to 200,000 men fought for an advantage.
North Anna River and Totopotomoy Creek
These two engagements forced Grant to continue moving to Lee’s right as the Union forces searched for a way to capture Richmond.
Cold Harbor
Major attackes on the Confeerate lines bring the total number of casualties to around 90,000 men in six weeks of fighting. Grant’s failure here turns his attention to Petersburg, ending the “overland” portion of the 1864 campaign.
Location of the Orientation Markers
The markers are at the beginning of the trail to Confederate Battery 5 outside the Visitor Center at Tour Stop One.