Source:
- SOPO Editor’s Note: This map appears here at The Siege of Petersburg Online courtesy of owner and creator Edward Alexander. It originally was used as part of materials given to attendees at an Emerging Civil War Symposium in 2019 during a talk by keynote speaker A. Wilson Greene. This map may not be reproduced without the express written consent of Mr. Alexander. All rights reserved. For even more great Civil War maps, check out Edward’s Facebook page Make Me a Map, as well as his web site, MAKE ME A MAP: MODERN MAPMAKING OF THE HISTORIC WORLD. ↩
The second line of II Corps was much farther back. I’ll be mapping my book on this soon.
When I do my maps, I think I’ll use the Gilmer/Campbell map as a base because the subsequent Federal fortifications blotted out some important features.
Take a look at the maps from “The Petersburg Regiment” and Maj. John Willian of Mott’s staff, which I’ve allowed this website to display. I’m grateful to A. Wilson Greene for some of the material that allowed me to correct his map.
I have always enjoyed Edward’s maps. His colors and graphics do a great job showing a healthy mix of historical and modern landmarks, which make the maps useful for field study.
I agree that the advance of the 2nd Corps is not as orderly as his map portrays. Specifically, Gibbon’s division remains closer to the JPR and holds more of a north-south line along the road. His placement of Barlow’s and Mott’s divisions are in the correct locations, but Barlow’s left most brigades of MacDougall and Maroney (Irish Brigade) were refused to protect the corps’s flank. As these brigades advanced through thick brush, they were hit in the left flank and rear by Mahone’s brigades, with the brigades of MacDougall, Fraser, and Chaplin receiving the brunt of the flank attack. Mott’s division folded immediately as these brigades are hit from all sides. Some brigades put up no fight at all and fall back, such as McAllister and Brewster. Mahone’s brigades fought almost separately from one another as they advanced east and northeast toward the JPR.
By the final phase of the battle, Mahone’s brigades were located on the road itself fighting around McKnight’s battery (12th NY Battery) and the remnants of the 2nd Corps (mostly Gibbon’s division). Gibbon turned to the brigades of O’Brien (Philadelphia Brigade) and Pierce to hold their position on the JPR and later blamed Pierce for being too slow in launching a counterattack. Pierce–a solid combat commander–was a convenient scapegoat for Gibbon since Pierce had spent the campaign under Mott and Birney and was seen as an outsider in Gibbon’s division. The divisions of Barlow and Mott retreat to an area east of the JPR and attempt to reform.
I just received John Horn’s book on the 12th Virginia as a birthday present. I’m sure to finish it quickly.
I jumped right into the Chapter on the Battle of the Jerusalem Plank Road. I live on the battlefield. I’ve read the accounts of the battle in the OR, and they don’t “jive” at all with the maps I’ve seen – including the ones on here.
On the morning of the battle, the Second Corps advanced from their line on what is now “Flank Road”. The Officers commanding the Regiments on the left of the Union line said that they had advanced a mile or more until they came into close proximity of the Confederate line. That matches up with the hand-drawn map that Mr. Horn provided. Mahone’s Division came up the ravine (now Wilcox Lake), then fronted on the Johnson/Bailey Farm, and advanced almost directly east, into the flank and rear of the Union line. All of that puts the Union somewhere near the current railroad line, and east of Johnson Road. I think their line was roughly were Northampton Road is today. That’s nearly three quarters of a mile further north from where it is shown on these maps.
I understand that John is working on a book about the Battle of the Jerusalem Plank Road. I’m looking forward to it. Maybe by my next birthday. Ha!