Off to Petersburg + A Review of The Last Citadel

I managed to finish Noah Andre Trudeau's The Last Citadel this week in preparation for my upcoming tour of Petersburg. To borrow from one of the jacket reviews, this is an excellent popular history of the Petersburg Campaign from the crossing of the James to the occupation of Petersburg. Oddly, Trudeau discusses Five Forks only in terms of its results, while other engagements during the siege receive detailed treatment. This is almost appropriate in relation to the drama of the narrative - he repeats a paragraph describing Horace Porter's receipt of the news of Five Forks and Grant's decision to order a "general assault along the lines" four times - once for the section on the Sixth Corps assault (the breakthrough in AP Hill's sector), followed by the Second (Sutherland Station) and Twenty-Fourth Corps (Forts Gregg and Whitworth) assaults, and finally for the Ninth Corps assault (Fort Mahone).

Last Citadel, while just the sort of overview of the campaign I needed to prepare for my trip, leaves me wanting more. Yet aside from numerous studies of the battle for The Crater, I know only of A. Wilson Greene's work on the final battles of the Petersburg Campaign as detailed tactical studies go. I have read sections of Greene's work, and highly recommend it based on that alone. He is evidently working on a three volume study of the campaign for UNC Press (I think is stumbled on this information over at Civil War Memory, a new addition to my blogroll). If so, I look forward to its publication. While I am sure to have missed something, the only other item of note is Blue and Gray Magazine's tour Guide for Five Forks and the battles around Hatcher's Run.

If you haven't already read this book, and you want to learn the story of Petersburg, start here. The maps included are servicable for an overview of this sort, but include little detail beyond roads and watercourses. Some may bristle at the lack of end notes. Trudeau does discuss the sources he used, but those who desire to track details down to primary sources will have their work cut out for them. For me, these are small issues for an otherwise enjoyable book.

Having read it, I hope to include Reams Station and Deep Bottom on the tour. Reams Station, site of Winfield Hancock's last engagement at the head of the Seconds Corps, includes a number of interpretive markers placed by CWPT. In the wake of the recent bad news about the Wilderness, I will enjoy visiting the site of one of CWPT's many victories. If all goes according to plan, I will blog about these sites in addition to The Crater, Fort Stedman, and some general observations on Petersburg on my return.

One final item. I am now on Twitter as cwbattlefields. I'm still not sure how I feel about it; it seems a bit self-important. But I thought it might be fun to tweet a few notes from the trenches, so to speak. We'll see how it goes. I won't be sending inane updates about passing milepost x on Interstate 95 or informing you that I just sat down for pizza (unless it's really really good).

Civil War Tour 2009

Every year I spend a weekend on the road with an old friend touring Civil War battlefields. After unexpected back surgery earlier this Summer, I thought we might have to cancel this year. Instead, we decided to limit the driving and focus on Virginia (I had hoped to take in a few sites in Kentucky and Tennessee - perhaps next year).

We will begin with the eastern sites on the Petersburg front, including the Crater and Fort Harrison. I expect this will take the better part of a day to accomplish. From Petersburg, we will head to the North Anna Battlefield park. This is a county park with some of the best preserved earthworks in Virginia. Hopefully we can accomplish all of this on day 1. As we are leaving the night before to knock out most of the driving time to Petersburg, I think we can accomplish all of this, if I discipline myself not to detour every time I see a Civil War Trails sign.

Day 2 will begin with Trevilian Station, the first of two battlefields on our route established by private preservation groups and the efforts of the Civil War Preservation Trust. Continuing the focus on cavalry actions and privately operated sites, a tour of the Brandy Station battlefield is next. I have passed this battlefield many times en route to other sites, and it's about time I spent a day on the field. Given time, we will wrap up day 2 with a visit to Bristoe Station Heritage Park. A short loop trail in this county park surveys A.P. Hill's futile and costly assault on Federal troops positioned along a railroad bed.

If time permits, we may detour to the Wilderness battlefield for a few photos before the Super Wal-Mart destroys the viewshed. Hopefully the short-sighted sprawlocrats of Orange county will listen to the urgings of men and women with a longer view of history than their own and work with Wal-Mart to find a location that does not directly impact the battlefield. Given the tone of their public statements to date, I hold out little hope for a compromise. I may not have a vote in Orange County, but perhaps my wallet does. I will not be spending any money in Orange County, nor will I be stocking up on supplies for the trip at Wal-Mart as I usually do. Thanks, but I'd rather pay more.

A short drive on day 3 will bring us to Manassas. I plan to tour sites from both battles, starting with 1861 in the morning and wrapping up with 1862 in the afternoon. I am particularly looking forward to seeing areas along the unfinished railroad defended by Jackson's troops, as I have not been there since the park completed landscape restorations. As we will be visiting on the anniversary of Second Manassas, I hope to find time for a ranger program or two. My friend is also a member of the 5th New York (Duryee's) Zouaves. Each battle anniversary, the Fifth commemorates the regiment's sacrifice to buy time in the wake of Longstreet's assault, which crushed the Federal left. This will provide a fitting close to a weekend spent on hallowed ground.