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DINWIDDIE, Virginia in the 1860s: 1 through 10 of 15

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  1. Small Unit Combat in the Civil War.
    date June 16, 1864 to June 18, 1864map DINWIDDIE, Virginiatags Civil War, Petersburg

    Great battles, and even wars ultimately rest on the actions of just a few men. More often, than not, these men are not the ones who make the history books. Small unit combat is not something that we often associate with the Civil War. Often our images are of masses of men moving at each other with flags waving and horns blowing. But this was not always the case. Often it was a few men scattered around...

  2. The Mishaps of Being in a Halfhearted Assault
    date June 15, 1864 to July 30, 1864map DINWIDDIE, Virginiatags Civil War, Petersburg

    The battle of Petersburg is remembered as one of the most destructive of the war. Petersburg can be considered the last stand of the Army of Northern Virginia. After months of maneuvering and fighting, Grant had finally forced Lee into defending Richmond itself. Before this the campaign had consisted of Lee moving to block Grant’s advances, trading ground for time. Now there was no more ground left....

  3. The Union’s Last Resort: A Mining Operation
    date June 20, 1864 to July 26, 1864map DINWIDDIE, Virginiatags Civil War, Battle of Petersburg, Battle of the Crater, Mining Operation, Mining, Mine

                Both Union and Confederate leaders knew that a decisive battle at Petersburg could mean a decisive battle of the war; but, it is unlikely that Union leaders would have guessed that their best chance for victory would depend on constructing a mineshaft.  There was a lot riding on the outcome of Petersburg, Virginia.  Bryce Suderow, a Civil War historian, explains the Union’s...

  4. Leading up to the Battle of Petersburg: The Mining Operation
    date June 20, 1864 to July 26, 1864map DINWIDDIE, Virginiatags Mine, Mining, Battle of the Crater, Battle of Petersburg, Civil War

                The battle of Petersburg, Virginia was crucial in the minds of both Union and Confederate leaders. A leading Civil War historian Bryce A. Suderow explains the Union Army’s thinking: Grant believed that if Union forces could overpower the Confederate lines and crush the Southern stronghold the Southern capital would inevitably fall, ending the American Civil War in the Union’s...

  5. Mine their Line: Pennsylvania Coal Miners Created the Crater
    date June 24, 1864 to July 30, 1864map DINWIDDIE, Virginia, SCHUYLKILL, Pennsylvaniatags War, Civil War

    In his official report, Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Pleasants of the 48th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers wrote that the mine dug under the Confederate trenches outside Petersburg exploded at sixteen minutes to five, on the morning of July 30, 1864. The Quartermaster sergeant of the 48th Pennsylvania, Joseph Gould, wrote his history of the regiment, "It [the explosion] was a magnificent spectacle;...

  6. Damage to the Confederate Line at the Battle of the Crater
    date July 30, 1864map DINWIDDIE, Virginiatags Battle Damage, Mine Explosion, Trench Warfare, Civil War

               The Battle of the Crater in the early stages of the Petersburg campaign resulted in a massive amount of damage to the center of the C.S.A. breastwork.  In the early stages of the Petersburg campaign, as the battle settled into trench warfare, a Union officer named Henry Pleasants hatched a plan to dig, plant explosives, and explode a mine in the middle of the Confederate breastwork. ...

  7. Trench Warfare and Artillery at the Crater
    date July 30, 1864map DINWIDDIE, Virginiatags Battle of the Crater, Civil War, Artillery

                 One of the opening battles of the Petersburg Campaign and one that foreshadowed some of the tactics used in the trench warfare of the First World War was the Battle of the Crater on July 30, 1864.  At this point in the war, the armies of Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant had settled into trench warfare in the area just to the south of Richmond, with the U.S. Army attempting...

  8. Charles William Truehearts Account of the Battle of the Crater: Reconsidering Black and White
    date August 28, 1864map DINWIDDIE, Virginiatags African-Americans, Politics, Race-Relations, Slavery, War

    When the Civil War broke out, Texan Charles William Trueheart was at the University of Virginia studying medicine. Despite initial reservations about secession, he joined the multitudes of southerners who rushed to enlist. At first an artilleryman, by 1864 Trueheart had finished studying medicine and was an assistant surgeon in the 8th Alabama Infantry of the Army of Northern Virginia....

  9. Chaplain Lorenzo Barber: 'The Fighting Parson'
    date December 9, 1864 to December 12, 1864map DINWIDDIE, Virginiatags Petersburg campaign, Weldon Railroad, Sharpshooters, Civil War

    In his report dated December 16, 1864, Chaplain Lorenzo Barber’s brigade had just finished what he called the destruction of “one of the most important railroads in the so-called Confederacy.”  But even with his reputation as “one of the best shots in the army” and the nickname of “The Fighting Parson,” Barber revealed the inner struggle he felt as a minister and a soldier when he shared...

  10. The Attack and Capture of Fort Steadman
    date March 25, 1865map DINWIDDIE, Virginiatags War

    At 4:30am on March 25th, Lee's troops attacked Fort Steadman, part of the Union defense line, and caught them completely by surprise. The confederate troops captured Fort Steadman and the forces in Petersburg, VA. This capture was only temporary, it lost momentum and had little strength to maintain control allowing Union troops to counter attack later that same day forcing the confederate troops...

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