Maps of the Siege of Petersburg
A map of the final battles at the Siege of Petersburg, April 2, 1865. (Edward Alexander)
The Map pages are one of the foundational sets of pages here at The Siege of Petersburg Online. You can click on an Offensive or other section below, and then click on the map you are interested in.
The page for each map displays an image of the map which fits nicely on the screen. Click on the map to see it full sized. Note that in many cases, these maps can be LARGE. I wanted to make sure readers could view relevant details.
These map lists will continue to grow often as new maps are added to the site.
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- Bermuda Hundred Campaign
- Siege of Petersburg Maps
- Butler’s Petersburg Offensive
- First Offensive
- Second Offensive
- Third Offensive
- Fourth Offensive
- The Beefsteak Raid
- Fifth Offensive
- Sixth Offensive
- Seventh Offensive
- Eighth Offensive
- The Battle of Fort Stedman
- Ninth Offensive
- The Battle of Quaker Road: March 29, 1865
- The Battle of Dinwiddie Court House: March 31, 1865
- The Battle of White Oak Road: March 31, 1865
- The Battle of Five Forks: April 1, 1865
- Fort Whitworth and Fort Gregg: April 2, 1865
- Second Corps Attacks and The Battle of Sutherland’s Station: April 2, 1865
- The Breakthrough: April 2, 1865
- The Ninth Corps Final Assaults: April 2, 1865
- Other Siege of Petersburg Maps
- Appomattox Campaign Maps
I am very excited to have found this site. I have an interest in my ancestor’s unit, the 51st Georgia Infantry Regiment. I believe it was posted around Petersburg early in the campaign and later detached to go participate in the Valley Campaign. When it returned it was stationed on the north of the James River in the trench works around Fort Harrison until 2 April when they retreated through Richmond on the way to Appomattox. I have a Union record that shows my ancestor Lt. William R. Poole was “capture outside of Petersburg” on 5 April. It seems late in the game to be captured near Petersburg, a day before the Battle at Sailor’s Creek, and few days after the fighting was wrapped around Petersburg. Why would he be near Petersburg anyway? Did they send some troops posted north of the river to support actions in Petersburg? I been wondering about this for years. There is no regimental history on the 51st. The soldiers of the 51st weren’t much for writing unfortunately so no letters are available to help sort this out.
I’m happy to have found a place to do some research and maybe resolve some of these questions.
Best regards,
Mike Adams
Mike,
Thanks for the comment! You are correct. The 51t Georgia, part of Bryan’s/Simms’ Brigade in Kershaw’s Division, was present early on at the Siege of Petersburg, left in the summer, and returned in November 1864. As for your ancestor’s capture time/date, there are a ton of reasons why that may have occurred. Maybe he was cut off and eventually surrendered. Maybe he was ill and fell behind and managed to stay hidden for a day or two. Maybe the Union record got the date wrong and he was really captured April 2 or 3. Perhaps he was detached from his regiment on special duty which placed him nearer Petersburg than his unit. Sorry I cannot be more specific. I would need to see additional documentation to give you any kind of concrete answer, and that documentation may not exist.
I do have a page on the 51st Georgia on my site, just as I do for every single regiment, battery, and battalion present at any point during the Siege:
51st Georgia Page
Check out the Bibliography section lower on the page. There is at least one book of letters written by a member of the 51st Georgia during the war. I am not sure on the time frame of those letters, however.
Brett Schulte
My Louisiana relative from the 1st Louisiana Infantry Regiment was believed to have been killed (or at least wounded) at Fort Gregg on April 2, 1865. Obituary has him passing away on April 21, 1865. If so, he had been wounded before Appomattox, and died from his injuries after Appomattox. Where would wounded Confederate soldiers be taken if they had been wounded around this timeframe and location?
I was trying to find a Fort Gregg map that listed the Louisiana regiments. So far, I can only find a map with North Carolina regiments listed. Were the Louisiana regiments even there? If not, perhaps they were at Fort Whitworth, Sutherland’s Station, or another battle? Any suggestions where to look?
Toni,
Thanks for the comment!
I’m not an expert on the hospitals around Richmond and Petersburg, though I’m slowly learning. Your ancestor would probably have been taken to one of the various hospitals in Petersburg given the close proximity of Fort Gregg to the city. I don’t really have any way to verify that. You could go to http://www.fold3.com, and sign up for a free trial to go take a look and see if your ancestor had any Compiles Service Records showing the location of the hospital he was relocated to.
Fort Gregg was part of the larger Third Battle of Petersburg during the Ninth Offensive. My Third Petersburg Page (https://www.beyondthecrater.com/resources/bat-sum/ninth-offensive-summaries/the-third-battle-of-petersburg-april-2-1865/) has everything on my site covering this battle if you scroll down to the list of links near the bottom. The Fort Gregg items are the VERY last set of links on that page. You’ll know you reached it when you start seeing Fort Gregg specifically show up in the titles there.
My bibliography page (https://www.beyondthecrater.com/bibliography/) shows you books grouped as overviews and by the nine offensives. If you go down to the Ninth Offensive, you’ll see the only book dedicated to Fort Gregg is The Confederate Alamo: Bloodbath at Petersburg’s Fort Gregg on April 2, 1865 by John J. Fox III (https://www.beyondthecrater.com/bibliography/petersburg-bib/9-off-bib/confederate-alamo-fox/). He has multiple maps covering the action. The only organized Louisiana unit defending Fort Gregg proper were elements of the famous Washington LA Artillery battalion.
Looking briefly at his list of defenders, no Louisiana infantry regiments were present. Nathaniel Harris’ Mississippi Brigade made up the vast majority of the defenders of both Gregg and Whitworth. There was postwar controversy about elements of Lane’s North Carolina Brigade also defending there. This doesn’t mean your ancestor wasn’t there, only that if he was there, it was due to a detached assignment or the chaos of battle.
By this point in the Siege of Petersburg, the only Louisiana infantry units were in York’s Command, a consolidated battalion of maybe 400 men which contained the remnants of the two Louisiana brigades in the Army of Northern Virginia. This battalion was in Second Corps. Second Corps was located on the east and southeast of Petersburg, east and southeast of Fort Gregg’s location. They were there after their failed Fort Stedman assault of March 25, 1865. The Louisiana Battalion was commanded by Colonel Eugene Waggaman on April 2, 18665. I cannot locate a map showing where they were located specifically, but my strong hunch is that they were on the relatively quiet part of the Petersburg lines east of the city just south of the Appomattox River. They are only mentioned in the order of battle in A. Wilson Greene’s book covering all of these final battles.
I hope this helps.
Brett Schulte
The Siege of Petersburg Online
https://www.beyondthecrater.com
PS Here is also an article on my site that attempts to document as many defenders of Fort Gregg as possible using various sources: https://www.beyondthecrater.com/news-and-notes/research/battles/confederate-defenders-at-fort-gregg-april-2-1865-by-bill-furr/
This is a good breakdown of the units present there and in what strength.