Petersburg National Military Park, VirginiaLykes, Richard Wayne
History
Petersburg National Military Park, Virginia
Lykes, Richard Wayne
Petersburg (Va.) -- History -- Siege, 1864-1865; Petersburg National Battlefield (Va.)
4. Union BATTERY 13 (1.7). The tour continues along Siege Road, passing
the remains of this battery, which are to the left. The Union batteries
were numbered consecutively, beginning with Battery 1 on the Appomattox
River east of Petersburg and running south and west around the city.
There were 42 of these Union batteries by the end of the campaign. In a
like manner, the Confederate batteries were numbered starting at the
river. In the original defense lines (the “Dimmock Line”) there were 55
Confederate batteries.
Notice on the left of Siege Road, and at numerous other places
throughout the tour, the low breastworks which connect the forts and
batteries to make a long, continuous line. It was behind these that the
enlisted men spent much of their time during the campaign.
5. FORT HASKELL (2.0), on the left of Siege Road, is one of the best
preserved of the earthworks. The most important event in its history
occurred on the morning of March 25, 1865, when the defense made here by
Union troops helped turn the tide against the Confederates during the
Battle of Fort Stedman. The moat, or ditch, around the embankments was
made more formidable at that time with the aid of sharpened stakes
(fraise) or brush (abatis). Chevaux-de-frise (timbers with sharpened
stakes driven through at right angles) may also have been placed outside
the moat. Gabions (cylindrical wicker baskets) and sandbags were placed
on the fortifications to protect them from shot and shell. All of these
devices were used regularly by both armies.
Siege Road crosses the Union siege line a short distance beyond Fort
Haskell so that the earthworks are now on the right (east) of you. The
road leads through a ravine.
6. BATTERY 11 (2.3) is situated at the top of the rise from the ravine.
This, along with BATTERY 12 (since destroyed), was captured by the
Confederates in the Battle of Fort Stedman, March 25, 1865. In the
course of the engagement that followed, the battery changed hands
several times. After the final Southern withdrawal that same day, the
battery remained in Northern possession until the end of the war.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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