Petersburg National Battlefield (July 19,2009

With the possible exception of World War II, no period of American history has had quite the impact of the Civil War. Especially when you consider the impact on society at the time, the Civil War changed America profoundly. Of course in visiting Virginia the Civil War is hard to miss. Today, I went to the Petersburg National Battlefield. I have been to a few Civil War sites, but this was one of the best preserved that I have seen. In the photo at left are many of the guns which were used during the war; some of those are Union, and some are Confederate. At Petersburg they were used to full effect.

Here you can see some of the original earthworks and the cannon placement. It was basically trench warfare; troops covered open ground under cannon and rifle fire from troops protected by the earthworks. That is one of the reasons why the siege went on for so long; being one of the longest sieges in US history. Many attempts were made to break the lines protecting the city, resulting in great loss of life on both sides. Some of the replica defenses in the park were something to see as well. Boredom, disease and bad food were also problems the soldiers on both sides had to deal with along with the battles.

This is one of the most famous battle sites of the Civil War; "The Crater". Here, Union troops made a tunnel under the Confederate lines, packed the end under the Confederate position with four tons of explosives, and lit the fuse! The result blew a hole in the Confederate line, but stunned by what they saw, the troops failed to exploit the breakthrough, and were repulsed in a counterattack later that day. It is one thing to read about it in a history book, but another thing to see it in person.
Really enjoyed the visit, today the usual $5 admission was waved, and the weather could not have been more perfect. That is a good thing, for many of the sites in the park require some walking. Heat and humidity were both down. If you have not seen this battlefield before (or if it has been some time) you might want to check it out. It was a perfect ending to a very fine weekend in the Richmond, Va area.