The Petersburg Campaign Online
Are you looking for information on the Petersburg Campaign, also commonly known as (somewhat incorrectly) the Siege of Petersburg or (completely incorrectly) as the Battle of Petersburg? If so, you’ve come to the right place! Beyond the Crater – The Petersburg Campaign Online strives to be the very best Petersburg Campaign site on the web.
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What Kind of Petersburg Campaign Information Can I Find at Beyond the Crater?
Beyond the Crater has an ever expanding amount of Petersburg Campaign information, including:
- Petersburg Campaign Articles from Primary Sources such as Battles & Leaders and the Southern Historical Society Papers
- Petersburg Campaign Orders of Battle Which Aim to Be the Most Complete and Thorough OOBs for the Petersburg Campaign on the Web
- Maps of the Petersburg Campaign and corresponding Battles Such as the Battle of Petersburg, the Battle of the Crater, and the Battle of Fort Stedman, among many others
- Newspaper Accounts of the Petersburg Campaign from Various Northern and Southern Newspapers at the time of the Siege of Petersburg
- A Chronological Today in the Petersburg Campaign series Which Looks at Each Day of the Siege of Petersburg
- Petersburg Campaign Diary Entries and Letters from Soldiers Who Participated in the Siege of Petersburg
- Official Records of the Petersburg Campaign from The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies.
- Wargaming the Petersburg Campaign Contains Scenarios You Can Use to Recreate Key Battles from the Petersburg Campaign
- Petersburg Campaign Battle Summaries Give Brief Overviews of Key Battles During the Siege of Petersburg
- and many more items pertaining to the Petersburg Campaign or the battles and expeditions which occurred between mid-June 1864 and April 2, 1865.
My Great Grandfather Joseph Weston, died “before” Petersburg on 6/17/1864. I am interested if “Before Petersburg” is an official term as I have seen the phrase annotated more than once in reference to skirmishes occurring at about that time.
Joseph was in Company C of the 6th New Jersey Volunteers.
By this time I believe they served in Hancock’s 2nd Corps.
I am waiting on his service record which I ordered from the New Jersey State Archives.
Robert,
Thank you for contacting me. I have a unit page for the 6th New Jersey at the Siege of Petersburg: http://www.beyondthecrater.com/resources/units/union-units/union-infantry/new-jersey-infantry/6th-new-jersey-infantry/
As you suspected, the 6th was in fact part of the Union Second Corps, the third brigade of its third division.
The term “before Petersburg” simply means in front of Petersburg. Your ancestor died literally in front of Petersburg, on its eastern outskirts, during the Second Battle of Petersburg: http://www.beyondthecrater.com/resources/battle-summaries/petersburg-campaign-summaries/first-offensive-summaries/the-second-battle-of-petersburg-summary/