Visiting Richmond and Petersburg National Battlefields (Virginia)

We left Brunswick Family Campground in Maryland at 9:30 a.m. thinking we would miss some traffic around the 495 Beltway.  Sadly, we were mistaken, and it took an hour longer than anticipated to reach our next destination: Pocahontas State Park in Chesterfield, Virginia.

Pocahontas State Park is a fantastic facility!  Built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), it was operated originally by the National Park Service as Prince William Forest Park before it was transferred to the State of Virginia.  A pull-through site with water/electric hookups and easy access to a dump station cost us $44/night, and that included entry to the day-use swimming pool.  There is a laundry facility, playground for children, Nature Center, and tons of trails for hiking and biking.  Pocahontas State Park was the perfect place to celebrate the start of our 13^th year of full-time RVing and to facilitate our visits to Richmond and Petersburg National Battlefield Parks.

Our site was walking distance to the laundry room.

These specimens are stuffed like I am!

There is a CCC Museum on site, but it is only open on weekends.  Rats!  I would have liked to visit.

This dragonfly was enjoying Pocahontas State Park, too!

Please remember, yours truly is a bit cotton-brained and in no way a Civil War expert.  Nor do I want to cause you to nod off while reading this blog.  Therefore, I am offering an abridged account of these Civil War battles.

Richmond was the scene of the Seven Days’ Battle of 1862.  It represented several attacks against Union General George McClellan by Confederate General Robert E. Lee (who had replaced Joseph Johnston as Confederate Army Commander when Johnston was wounded a few weeks earlier at the Battle of Seven Pines).  Lee’s aggressiveness was successful in pushing Federal troops away from Richmond and saving the Confederacy.

Richmond came into play again as part of Union General Ulysses Grant’s 1864 Overland Campaign.  Fighting began at Totopotomoy Creek on May 29, 1864, near Rural Plains, the home of the Shelton Family.  The family took refuge in the basement as the battle transpired.  But the Battle of Totopotomoy Creek offered no conclusive victor.  So, Grant moved his Union troops to Cold Harbor (named for a local tavern), the last location with access to Richmond.  He hoped to drive the Confederates into the Chickahominy River.  However, the Confederates had built nearly 7 miles of entrenchments, successfully blocking Grant’s path to Richmond.  The Union suffered severe casualties (more than 6,000), most of which occurred within the first hour of fighting on June 3, 1864.  Grant became frustrated with his failure to take Richmond during this 2-week battle, and shortly thereafter, he left and headed to Petersburg.

Built in 1723, Rural Plains remained in the Shelton family for 275 years before the building and 125 of their 1,000 acres of land were entrusted to the National Park Service.  The wedding of Sarah Shelton to Revolutionary War patriot and orator Patrick Henry took place here in 1754.

A replica of typical slave quarters stands on the property of Rural Plains.  What a contrast to the spacious home of the Sheltons.

Tobacco was a major crop on plantations during the Civil War.

  

We spent 2 days driving along the 80-miles of roads within the Park to visit all the battle locations and hike the many trails.   Interestingly, the Confederate entrenchments/fortifications were so well constructed, it proved too difficult to tear them down or bring properties back to their original states.  Hence, we have so many fine examples to view.

Hiking to view some of the entrenchments/fortifications...

...along the Cold Harbor Battlefield.

Another fine example of entrenchments/fortifications.

A chimney is the only reminder of the home that once stood on this property in 1864.

We visited several historic structures, too, like the Garthright House, which served as a hospital, first for the Union, then for the Confederates.  At the time of the Civil War, some sections of the home were already 100 years old!

The right portion of the Garthright home pre-dated the Civil War by 100 years!

 

We also visited the site of Chimborazo, the largest Confederate field hospital in continuous operation from October 1861 through April 1865.  At its peak, it contained more than 100 buildings (including a bakery, stable, well, even a bath house).  It served more than 75,000 troops, 80% of which recovered and were released.  Interestingly, sickness killed twice as many soldiers as enemy bullets. 

 

The site of Chimborazo, now a city park, sits on a bluff above the James River.

Speaking of bullets, I learned that soldiers did not have to bite any during amputations.  Instead, they were heavily drugged with alcohol (stimulant), morphine (narcotic), and ether/chloroform (anesthetic).  Yes, I would say with that combo, they were comfortably numb during the 5-minute procedure to amputate an extremity.

 

But the highlight of our Richmond tour was visiting Hollywood Cemetery.  Located along the James River, this cemetery is the resting place for many Virginia elites, including Presidents James Monroe and John Tyler, Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and Fitzhugh Lee, nephew of Robert E. Lee and one-time Virginia governor.  I admired the unique grave markers/monuments/statues throughout the Cemetery.   It is also where area Confederates are buried under a 90-foot granite pyramid inscribed with the Latin phrase that translates to, “They stood for God and Country.”  Erected in 1869, the engineer who designed the monument for the Confederate States of America is buried right below the inscription.  Furthermore, many Confederate soldiers who perished at Gettysburg were reinterred here.

 

Hollywood Cemetery Chapel. 

Gravesite of President James Monroe.

 

Headstone on the grave of President John Tyler.

Burial site of Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

Brothers and Confederate Officers John and William Pegram were both killed in action at Petersburg in 1865. 

I captured a sun beam shining down on this grave.

A statue of the family dog stands outside the grave of this young girl.

This statue of a grieving wife atop the gravesite of her husband moved me to tears.

Gravesites overlooking the James River are expensive real estate.

A 90-foot granite pyramid is surrounded by the graves of Confederate soldiers, including those whose identities are unkown.

Men of all economic, religious, and educational backgrounds served together for  their common cause.

We spent a full day at Petersburg National Battlefield.  Union General Grant believed (and Confederate General Lee was fully aware) that if Petersburg fell, so would Richmond, putting an end to the War and the Confederacy. With 4 railroads and 2 roads, Petersburg was a major supply hub.  So, the Union began a nearly 10-month assault and siege on Petersburg, from June 1864 to April 1865.  Petersburg represented the longest battle of the Civil War, with 70,000 casualties (though most were from infection and disease).

 

"The Dictator" could launch 200+ pound shells for a distance of 2.5 miles.

I wondered how far "The Dictator" could launch me!

This photo was taken during the Civil War...

...and this is what you see today.

There were lots of sites with varying outcomes where fighting occurred in Petersburg, so I will just give you some highlights of what I, your humble stuffed Rambling RV Rat, considered the most interesting.

 

The Battle of the Crater on July 30, 1864, comes in at #1.  It was a bold plan by the Union to build a 500-foot tunnel underneath a Confederate stronghold and fill it with 8,000 pounds of gunpowder.  The detonation created a huge crater and caused great losses.  Ironically, the Union experienced more casualties than did the Confederates, leading Grant to frustration and feelings of failure.

 

The tunnel from which the Union detonated 8,000 pounds of gunpowder.

The result of the detonation was this huge crater and great losses.  

While we are on the topic of explosions, the Confederates pulled off one of their own on August 9, 1864, on a wharf at City Point (where Union General Grant had set up headquarters), destroying $2 million of Union supplies.  Tit for tat, the Union impeded Confederate supplies just weeks later at the Battle of Weldon Railroad.

It was on the grounds of Appomattox Plantation in City Point...

...that Grant set up his headquarters in a rustic cabin.

A view of the confluence of the James and Appomattox Rivers, not far from the site of the wharf explosion.

It was in September 1864 that General Grant directed some Union troops back to Richmond for battle while fighting simultaneously in Petersburg.   The Union gained some ground, but the Confederates still held both cities. 

 

It was a harsh winter for the Confederates.  There was constant trench warfare.  And General Grant’s ability to disrupt some Confederate supply lines created a lack of food.

 

We stumbled upon the site of the Battle of Hatcher’s Run, which occurred February 5-7, 1865.  (This site is not maintained by the National Park Service but instead preserved by the American Battlefield Trust.)  The Union attempted for the 7^th time to capture Confederate supply lines.  But the outnumbered Confederate forces were able to defend their lines.  Confederate Brigadier General John Pegram was killed in action here.

 

General Lee’s last offensive at Petersburg is an early morning attack on the Union’s Fort Steadman on March 25, 1865.   But it is not a success, and he loses 2,000 of his dwindling forces.  

The remains of Fort Steadman.

On April 1, 1865, The Confederates, under the leadership of General George Pickett (known for his ill-fated charge at Gettysburg), are overtaken at Five Forks intersection.  This put Southside Railroad, the Confederates’ only remaining supply line in Petersburg, in jeopardy.  It was here that 23-year-old Colonel William Pegram (brother of John Pegram who perished at Hatcher’s Run 2 months earlier), was mortally wounded just 5 miles from his ancestral home and after fighting in nearly every major battle of the Civil War with the Army of Northern Virginia.

The end is near for the Confederates.  Lee sends word to Confederate President Jefferson Davis that Richmond should evacuate.  On April 3, 1865, both Richmond and Petersburg are captured by the Union.

 

We didn’t do extensive touring of the City of Richmond, having visited there previously on a motorcycle trip.  But we took a quick stroll around the city of Petersburg.  Suffice to say, Petersburg’s economic importance since the Civil War has dwindled significantly.  Hopefully, the 2022 partnership established between the City and the State of Virginia will assist with much needed revitalization.

We did, however, visit Poplar Grove National Cemetery, where Union veterans from the Petersburg Campaign (and a few from wars thereafter through the Korean War) are interred.  Of the 6,188 bodies buried here, the identities of only 2,139 are known.

 

I expanded my Civil War battlefield knowledge and achieved 2 more Junior Ranger badges.  Sadly, the more I learn about the American Civil War, the more I pray we will never see one again.  The shattered families, destruction of property, and, most importantly, the sacrifice of human life is simply heart wrenching.

My gal pal, Mademoiselle Rochelle, is so proud of my Junior Ranger accomplishments!

Well, time for me to sign off.  Talk to you again soon!