City Point , Hopewell, VA  -   Battle of the Crater - Petersburg, VA  

Flowerdew Hundred -  Prince George, VA   -  Battersea  -  Petersburg, VA

Pamplin Park, Dinwiddie, VA

I Have A Strong Connection to Virginia.

Virginia is the Mother of Presidents and the Mother of States.

Eight of our Nations Presidents Came from Virginia.

Click Below To See Virginia's Presidents

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City Point, Virginia 

Known as Hopewell, Virginia today

The Appomattox Manor was the Pentagon of the Union Army circa 1864.  It was Grant's headquarters and Lincoln actually spent 3 weeks here during the seige of Petersburg.  City Point is where the James River and the Appomattox River meet.  The Appomattox Manor should not be confused with the Appomattox Courthouse where General Lee surrendered to General Grant to end the War between the states.

This was City Point during the War Between The States 1864

The railroad was to take the supplies from the port at City Point to the troops trying to take Petersburg.

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The Battle of The Crater

Petersburg, Virginia

Tour at Museum	Museum Photos	Museum Photo	Museum	Museum Photo
Battlefield Park	The Dictator used to lob shells on the city of Petersburg	Amo for Dictator stored in here	The Dictator	The Dictator
Union Cannon	Battlefield	Battlefield Park	View through the tree of the Confederate Lines	Where the Tunnel was dug under Conferate Lines
Entrance to the Tunnel where the Union miners dug a tunnel from behind Union lines under the Confederate lines.	After removing the dirt in cracker boxes, installing a ventalation system they loaded the end with dynamite

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Civil War Re-enactment

Confederate lines half mile ahead	Confederate Camp	Location where the crater was created by the explosion over 140 years ago	Map of Crater	Diagram of the tunnel
Where the tunnel has caved in over the years	Union Camp	Tent	Camp	Cannon
Confederates resting	Rebs Sitting and talking	Earth works	Union fire demonstration	Prepare to fire
Aim	Fire	Next line fire	Union Medical Tent	The Doctor is in
Lady Nurse	Medical Tent	Medical tools

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Flowerdew Hundred

Flowerdew Hundred is one of the earliest original land grants in Virginia and was  one of the earliest English settlements in the New World.  Its 1,400 acres contain some of the country's best preserved and most significant archeological sites.

 Flowerdew Hundred survived the Indian attack of 1622 and occupation of the site continued through the 18th century. America's first windmill was constructed there in 1621, later demolished, and now commemorated by a 17th-century style windmill built in the 1970s. 

In June 1864, the plantation was surveyed and selected by Lt. Peter Michie of the United States Corps of Engineers as the location for the southern terminus of a pontoon bridge that would carry the Army of the Potomac across the James River. Union troops encamped on the grounds for three days before proceeding to the Battle of Petersburg.

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Battersea

Battersea is an important colonial plantation house constructed, along the banks of the Appomattox River, in 1768 for John Banister, first mayor of Petersburg, Virginia, a Revolutionary delegate, congressman and framer of the Articles of Confederation.

On April 25, 1781,  a British army of 2,500 troops under the command of Major General William Phillips attacked the city to capture a large quantity of supplies they believed were stored there. They were confronted by a determined force of 1,000 Virginia militia commanded by Major General, the Baron Von Steuben. A battle raged for nearly three hours, after which the Americans were compelled to give up the city and retreat into Chesterfield County. Though losing the battle, General von Steuben's defense of the town bought enough time to evacuate the badly needed supplies for General George Washington's southern army to safety.

Each year, Revolutionary War Reenactment Units come together at Battersea to commemorate that battle which was part of America's fight for its Independence. Battersea, though not on the actual battle site, was standing at the time of the battle, and several weeks after the battle was occupied by the British soldiers of General Lord Charles Cornwallis. This is another significant period in Historic Petersburg's three centuries of history.

Click on pictures of reenactment to enlarge

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Pamplin Park, Dinwiddie, VA

Pamplin Park is the National Museum of the Civil War Soldier located within a 422-acre section of Virginia’s Southside. Just south of Petersburg, it is also the site of Grant’s breakthrough of General Lee’s previously impenetrable defenses, only days before the surrender at Appomattox.

Tudor Hall was a family home of the Pamplins’ maternal ancestors and it has been restored to the Civil War era. The basement museum features recitations of free and slave civilians who lived on the plantation and some of its military occupants who were bivouacked in the house during the War--part of General McGowan's South Carolina Brigade.

Click on photos from a recent reenactment at the park to enlarge

Click Here to learn about the Confederate Submarine the H.L. Hunley

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