109-479: 37°10′55″N 77°23′42″W / 37.181944°N 77.394937°W / 37.181944; -77.394937 The Petersburg Sports Complex is a multi-purpose athletic venue located in Petersburg , Virginia , United States. The facility includes four softball and one baseball field , the latter which seats 2,500. In addition to the field, the facility features a concession stand, restrooms, press boxes, offices,
218-466: A weroance , King Coquonosum , and by his sister, Queen Oppussoquionuske . This Algonquian -speaking people later had a town at Rohoic Creek (formerly known as Rohowick or Indian Towne Run). Present-day Petersburg developed to the east. Petersburg was founded at a strategic point at the fall line of the Appomattox River and settled by English colonists. By 1635 they had patented land along
327-680: A Democratic politician in the Jim Crow South, Arnold promised to "deal with all Virginians fairly", whatever their ethnicity. He was endorsed by Arthur Wergs Mitchell , the first black American to be elected to the United States Congress as a Democrat. Arnold ultimately lost the Democratic primary to John S. Battle , who won the gubernatorial election. Even after the Great Migration of many blacks to northern jobs and cities, Petersburg
436-473: A failure, it would then be said and very properly, that we were shoving these people ahead to get killed because we did not care anything about them. But that could not be said if we put white troops in front." Despite the battle being a tactical Confederate victory, the strategic situation in the Eastern Theater remained unchanged. Both sides remained in their trenches, and the siege continued. The area of
545-520: A kind of blueprint for the national civil rights movement. Beginning in the 1950s black Americans in Petersburg struggled to desegregate public schools and facilities. In 1958 the City Council closed Wilcox Lake, a popular swimming hole in Petersburg to prevent the lake's public recreational area from being racially integrated. It never re-opened to swimming. Through sit-ins in the bus terminal in 1960,
654-715: A mine across from Union Major General Ambrose E. Burnside 's IX Corps sector, blowing a gap in the Confederate defenses of Petersburg, Virginia . Instead of being a decisive advantage to the Union, this precipitated a rapid deterioration in the Union position. Unit after unit charged into and around the crater, where most of the soldiers milled in confusion in the bottom of the crater. Grant considered this failed assault as "the saddest affair I have witnessed in this war." The Confederates quickly recovered, and launched several counterattacks led by Brigadier General William Mahone . The breach
763-655: A mostly agricultural state with few major cities. Starting in 1813, the city paved its streets, which helped attract business. In 1816 the Upper Appomattox Canal Company completed the Upper Appomattox Canal Navigation System to bypass the Appomattox Falls, which facilitated traffic up and down river to Farmville as well as powered cotton and flour mills. Petersburg responded to the silting-up of its Appomattox River port by building
872-399: A new campus there. This is the site of the present-day Central State Hospital , which provides a variety of mental health services. In 1894 a fireworks factory exploded killing eleven people. The limitations of Petersburg's small geographic area and proximity to Richmond are structural problems that have hampered it in adapting to major economic changes in the 20th century. Other forces in
981-637: A peninsula on the north shore of the Appomattox River ) became the area's free black residential area. With access to waterways and a population sympathetic to refugee slaves, this neighborhood was an important site on the Underground Railroad . During the Antebellum period Petersburg became the slave states' eleventh largest city, and 49th among all American cities in industrial development. Commission merchants (39 firms by 1860) bought agricultural products from nearby Dinwiddie County as well as points to
1090-693: A prehistoric Native American settlement dated to 6,500 BCE , the early third of the Archaic Period (8,000 to 1,000 BCE). Succeeding cultures of indigenous peoples lived in the area for thousands of years before European exploration and colonization. When the English arrived in Virginia in 1607, the region was occupied by the Appamatuck , a significant tribe of the Powhatan Confederacy . They were governed by
1199-583: A public address system, and a scoreboard. The baseball field was home to the Petersburg Generals of the Coastal Plain League , a collegiate summer baseball league . The baseball field's dimensions are 320 ft. down the lines, 350 ft. to the gaps, and 375 ft. to dead center field . This article about a baseball venue in Virginia is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Petersburg, Virginia Petersburg
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#17328873444861308-468: A rifle pit and quickly becoming overcrowded while the Confederates, under Brigadier General William Mahone , gathered as many troops together as they could for a counterattack. In about an hour, they had formed up around the crater and began firing rifles and artillery down into it in what Mahone later described as a " turkey shoot ." Sensing that the plan had failed, Grant sent Meade an order to terminate
1417-538: A substantial business community, based on manufacture of tobacco products, cotton and flour and banking. At the time of the American Civil War , Petersburg was the second-largest city in Virginia after the capital, Richmond, and the seventh-largest city in the Confederacy. Petersburg's population had the highest percentage of free black Americans of any city in the Confederacy and the largest number of free blacks in
1526-477: A transportation hub. Area highways include Interstate Highways 85 , 95 , and U.S. Route highways with 1 , 301 , and 460 . Both CSX and Norfolk Southern rail systems maintain transportation centers at Petersburg. Amtrak serves the city with daily Northeast Regional passenger trains to Norfolk, Virginia , and long-distance routes from states to the South. In the early 21st century, Petersburg civic leaders promote
1635-534: Is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 census , the population was 33,458 with a majority black American population. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines Petersburg (along with the city of Colonial Heights ) with Dinwiddie County for statistical purposes. The city is 21 miles (34 km) south of the commonwealth (state) capital city of Richmond . It
1744-627: Is located at the fall line (the head of navigation of rivers on the U.S. East Coast ) of the Appomattox River (a tributary of the longer larger James River which flows east to meet the southern mouth of the Chesapeake Bay at the Hampton Roads harbor and the Atlantic Ocean ). In 1645, the Virginia House of Burgesses ordered Fort Henry built, which attracted both traders and settlers to
1853-658: The 18th Corps , attacked the Dimmock Line , a series of defensive breastworks constructed to protect Petersburg. General Robert E. Lee arrived with his Army of Northern Virginia , and the 292-day Siege of Petersburg began. Due to botched Union leadership and arrival of Confederate General William Mahone , the Union forces suffered a disastrous defeat at the Battle of the Crater , suffering over 4,000 casualties. In early April 1865, Union troops finally managed to push their left flank to
1962-558: The 48th Pennsylvania Infantry of Major General Ambrose E. Burnside 's IX Corps , offered a novel proposal to break the impasse. Pleasants, a mining engineer from Pennsylvania in civilian life, proposed digging a long mine shaft under the Confederate Army lines and planting explosive charges directly underneath a fort (Elliott's Salient) in the middle of the Confederate First Corps line. If successful, not only would all
2071-648: The American Civil War , part of the Siege of Petersburg . It occurred on Saturday, July 30, 1864, between the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia , commanded by General Robert E. Lee , and the Union Army of the Potomac , commanded by Major General George G. Meade (under the direct supervision of the general-in-chief, Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant ). After weeks of preparation, on July 30 Union forces exploded
2180-628: The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), the final British drive to regain control of the colony led to the Battle of Blanford in April 1781, which started just east of Petersburg. As Virginia militia retreated north across the Appomattox River, they took up the planks of the wooden Pocahontas bridge to delay the enemy. Although the British captured Blanford and Petersburg, they did not regain
2289-434: The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House , agreed to Pleasants's plan. Digging began in late June, but even Grant and Meade saw the operation as a "mere way to keep the men occupied" and doubted it of any actual tactical value. They quickly lost interest, and Pleasants soon found himself with few materials for his project, and his men even had to forage for wood to support the structure. Work progressed steadily, however. Earth
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#17328873444862398-524: The Battle of the Crater and nine months of trench warfare devastated the city. Battlefield sites are partly preserved as Petersburg National Battlefield by the National Park Service of the U.S. Department of the Interior . Petersburg rebuilt its railroads, including a connecting terminal by 1866, although it never quite regained its economic position because much shipping traffic would continue to
2507-573: The Congressional Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War exonerated Burnside and condemned Meade for changing the plan of attack, which did little good for Burnside, whose reputation had been ruined. As for Mahone, the victory, won largely because of his efforts in supporting Johnson's stunned men, earned him a lasting reputation as one of the best young generals of Lee's army in the last years of
2616-697: The Mid-Atlantic . This was part of a drive to improve public education that started with the Reconstruction legislature. In 1888, its first president, John Mercer Langston , was elected to the US Congress on the Republican ticket, the first black American to be elected to Congress from Virginia. In 1882, the state legislature also authorized moving the mental asylum facility to the Mayfield Farm and developing
2725-556: The Richmond and Petersburg Railroad in 1835, and three years later it opened between Petersburg's Pocahontas neighborhood and Richmond's Manchester neighborhood, proving a more convenient and cheaper link than the Manchester Turnpike. The legislature in 1846 chartered Southside Railroad to Farmville and Lynchburg to the west. It would run 124 miles westward and supersede the technologically outdated Upper Appomattox Canal and acquire
2834-546: The United States Colored Troops , many of whom were summarily executed on the battlefield or in the rear . Compared to the average ratio for Civil War battles of 4.8 wounded to one dead, for black troops at the Crater it was 1.8 to one. Both black and white wounded prisoners were taken to the Confederate hospital at Poplar Lawn, in Petersburg. Burnside had not given up hope and he petitioned Meade to let him try another attack but General E.O.C. Ord dismissed
2943-483: The 1880s, a coalition of black Republicans and white Populists held power for several years in the state legislature. This resulted in two major public institutions in Petersburg, as the legislature invested for education and welfare. In 1882, the legislature founded Virginia State University in nearby Ettrick as Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute. It was one of the first public (fully state-supported) four-year historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) in
3052-452: The 18th and 22nd South Carolina and the stunned Confederate troops did not direct any significant rifle or artillery fire at the enemy for at least 15 minutes. However, Ledlie's untrained division was not prepared for the explosion, and reports indicate they waited 10 minutes before leaving their own entrenchments. Footbridges were supposed to have been placed to allow them to cross their own trenches quickly. Because they were missing, however,
3161-627: The 1950s, Petersburg became the southern terminus of the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike , predating the U.S. Interstate Highway System . Since that time, Petersburg has struggled in competition with nearby Richmond, as the capital has grown to dominate the region in a changing economy as industries restructured. In the late 19th and early 20th century, Virginia's Democratic Party –dominated legislature approved constitutional changes that effectively disenfranchised most blacks and many poor whites. Those disfranchised suffered major losses in
3270-536: The 1960s, many middle-class families moved to newer housing in the predominantly white suburbs. They also moved to the Richmond metro area, where the economy was expanding with jobs in new fields of financial and retail services. Some companies shifted industrial jobs to states further south, where wages were lower, or overseas. The declining economy increased the pressure of competition and racial tensions in Petersburg. These flared from 1968 until 1980, when black members of
3379-592: The 8 mile long City Point Railroad , which linked the city to City Point on the James River, reachable by larger Chesapeake Bay and Norfolk -bound ships. During the same decade Petersburg became a railroad center. The Virginia and North Carolina legislatures authorized the 65-mile long Petersburg and Weldon Railroad , in 1830 (three years after the first American railway, the B.& O. ) and its "Southern depot" began handling (mostly freight) traffic to Weldon, North Carolina in 1833. The Virginia legislature authorized
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3488-634: The Appomattox Railroad in 1854. Petersburg business interests for years managed to block a charter for the last major line, the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad , which was completed in 1858. It connected Petersburg to the Atlantic Ocean port of Norfolk and would foster more growth in that city than Petersburg itself. In 1851 the city introduced gaslights and by 1857 installed a new municipal water system. All these civic improvements helped attract and hold
3597-492: The Arnold Pen Company, at the time one of the largest manufacturers of fountain pens , launched a campaign for Governor of Virginia. As a Petersburg city councilman, Arnold had pushed through a budgetary increase earmarked for equality and fair access for public housing and recreational facilities for everyone, including people of color, and increased budgetary considerations for the black schools in Petersburg. Unusually for
3706-518: The City Council accused the white Mayor of racism over a re-districting plan which they and the ACLU alleged was designed to allow whites to maintain white supremacy in the city. For decades, the city government was run by a small group of white businessmen and bankers. Most were wealthy enough to own homes in the exclusive Walnut Hill neighborhood and their interrelated families had been established there for generations. In 1980 one black councilwoman described
3815-544: The Confederate lines), two volunteers from the 48th Regiment (Lt. Jacob Douty and Sgt. Harry Reese) crawled into the tunnel. After discovering the fuse had burned out at a splice, they spliced on a length of new fuse and lit it again. Finally, at 4:44 a.m., the charges exploded in a massive shower of earth, men, and guns. A crater (still visible today) was created, 170 feet (52 m) long, 100 to 120 feet (30 to 37 m) wide, and at least 30 feet (9 m) deep. The explosion immediately killed 278 Confederate soldiers of
3924-409: The Confederates would also kill them on-site if they were captured and accounts by survivors of the battle report that some bayoneted black soldiers in the hope that the Confederates would be more lenient to them if they were captured. Ferrero himself was AWOL, having joined Ledlie in the rear to drink alcohol together. Some Union troops eventually advanced and flanked to the right beyond the crater to
4033-543: The IX Corps as Union soldiers attempted to escape from the crater or surrender . Confederates along the rim of the crater could be heard to yell "Take the white man prisoner! Kill the nigger!" The black Union soldiers who attempted to surrender were specifically targeted for battlefield execution or, if they were taken as prisoners, executed in the rear . Some of the officers in Ferrero's division removed their USCT badges, fearing
4142-504: The James River, which opened in 1838 (and was acquired by the city and renamed the Appomattox Railroad in 1847). As discussed below, that became one of four railroads built (some with government subsidies) constructed (with separated terminals to the advantage of local freight haulers) before the American Civil War . In 1860, the city's industries and transportation combined to make it the state's second largest city (after Richmond). It connected commerce as far inland as Farmville, Virginia at
4251-567: The Lynch and Callender mills at Ettick and Matoaca and Battersea across the Appomattox river, and the Merchant's Manufacturing Company had another mill at Campbell Bridge near Ettrick. Together those cotton mills constituted approximately a third of that industry in the state. The town also had three water-powered flour mills by 1860, and five iron foundries. The city became an important industrial center in
4360-598: The Mid-Atlantic region. When the Civil War began in 1861, Petersburg was strategic in supporting the Confederate effort. The city provided several infantry companies and artillery units to the Confederate Army, along with three troops of cavalry. In April 1861 more than 300 free black Americans of Petersburg volunteered to work on the fortifications of Norfolk, Virginia under their own leader. Slaveholders also contributed
4469-553: The Norfolk seaport. After the consolidations of smaller railroads, both the CSX and Norfolk Southern railway networks serve Petersburg. Petersburg has the oldest free black settlements in the state at Pocahontas Island. Two Baptist churches in the city, whose congregations were founded in the late 18th century, are among the oldest black congregations and churches in the United States . In
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4578-470: The North. Meade may have also ordered the change of plans because he lacked confidence in the black soldiers' abilities in combat and feared that if they were butchered, Radical Republicans would make an issue out of it and claim they were deliberately allowed to be killed. Burnside protested to Grant, who sided with Meade. When volunteers were not forthcoming, Burnside selected a replacement white division by having
4687-659: The PIA gained agreement by the president of the Bus Terminal Restaurants to desegregate lunch counters in Petersburg and several other cities. Virginia officials strongly opposed school integration following the 1954 US Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education that segregated public schools were unconstitutional. They initiated the program of Massive Resistance . For instance, rather than allow schools to be integrated, then Governor of Virginia , J. Lindsay Almond ordered
4796-518: The Petersburg City Schools, which had become predominantly black due to whites sending their children to private schools or moving to suburbs. Projected industrial development of large tracts of farmland in the annexed areas failed to take place. In 1985 Petersburg again sought to annex more land from Prince George County. This time the nearby City of Hopewell , a city that already had huge amounts of taxable industry within its borders, joined
4905-618: The Petersburg Volunteers—who distinguished themselves in action at the Siege of Fort Meigs on the Great Lakes frontier on May 5, 1813. Fourth President James Madison called Petersburg "Cockade of the Union" (which later was applied to the town as a nickname "Cockade City"), in honor of the cockades which Volunteers wore on their caps. Petersburg Blacks established the First Baptist (1774) and Gillfield Baptist Church (1797),
5014-517: The Petersburg city government as "our own little version of the Byrd Machine ", comparing it to the political organization led by segregationist Democrat , Harry Flood Byrd , that controlled Virginia politics for decades. In 1968, following the April assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. , Petersburg was the first city to designate his birthday as a holiday; in 1983 it would be memorialized as
5123-472: The ability to exercise their rights as citizens. The legislature also instituted Jim Crow laws, including imposing racial segregation . With many black Americans having served the nation and cause of freedom in WWII, in the postwar years they pressed for social justice, an end to segregation, and restoration of voting power. In 1949 Petersburg businessman and politician, Remmie Arnold , the president and owner of
5232-450: The annexation suit to try to annex commercial areas of Prince George County, including Fort Lee and suburban neighborhoods near the base where many military families live. Many residents of Prince George had relocated to stay within the county after the previous annexation by Petersburg. They were strongly opposed to another attempt by the cities to annex their neighborhoods. The U.S. Department of Defense also expressed strong opposition to
5341-500: The area. The Town of Petersburg, chartered by the Virginia legislature in 1748, incorporated three early settlements, and in 1850 the legislature elevated it to city status. Petersburg grew as a transportation hub and also developed industry. It was the final destination on the Upper Appomattox Canal Navigation System , which opened in 1816, to a city mostly rebuilt after a devastating 1815 fire. When its Appomattox River port silted up, investors built an 8-mile railroad to City Point on
5450-468: The army; one brigade was made of heavy artillery regiments that had not performed well in combat so far and Burnside himself had complained about their performance during the June 18 assaults on Petersburg. Worse than that, Ledlie was known as a coward; during the battle on June 18 he had hidden behind the lines and although his officers and enlisted men knew it, this escaped Burnside's notice. The plan called for
5559-552: The attack. Meade passed this order on to Burnside but the latter believed it could still work and ignored the order, so he sent in Ferrero's division. Burnside preferred to work from his headquarters so he had only a vague idea of what was going on at the front lines as disaster was unfolding. Now faced with considerable flanking fire, the USCT also descended into the crater, and for the next few hours, Mahone's soldiers, along with those of Major General Bushrod Johnson and artillery, slaughtered
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#17328873444865668-447: The capital of the Confederacy. Most supplies to General Lee's army and Richmond funneled through that location. Consequently, the Union regarded it as the "back door" to Richmond and as necessary for its defense. The result was the siege of Petersburg . It was actually trench warfare, rather than a true siege , as the armies were aligned along a series of fortified positions and trenches more than 20 miles (32 km) long, extending from
5777-494: The citation made explicit mention of his role. Grant subsequently gave in his evidence before the Committee on the Conduct of the War : General Burnside wanted to put his colored division in front, and I believe if he had done so it would have been a success. Still I agreed with General Meade as to his objections to that plan. General Meade said that if we put the colored troops in front (we had only one division) and it should prove
5886-411: The citizens of Petersburg, black and white alike, since the mid-1960s, as a necessary measure to allow the city of expand its tax base and its potential for growth and development. The city argued to the counties that it was better prepared to provide municipal-type services than the predominantly rural counties and that the city needed more land for expected new development. The annexation was opposed by
5995-548: The city's historical attractions for heritage tourism, as well as industrial sites reachable by the transportation infrastructure. The federal government is also a major employer, with nearby Fort Gregg-Adams , as home of the United States Army 's Sustainment Center of Excellence , and the Army's Logistics Branch, Ordnance, Quartermaster, and Transportation Corps. Archaeological excavations at Pocahontas Island found evidence of
6104-468: The city's largest manufacturer, closed a cigarette factory in town. De-industrialization, restructuring of railroads, and related national structural economic changes cost many jobs in the city, as happened in numerous older industrial cities across the North and Midwest. The post-World War II national construction of highways encouraged development outside cities and suburbanization added to problems. In addition, reacting to racial integration of schools in
6213-478: The compact core: these include indie restaurants, bars and coffee shops. The long-abandoned Walnut Mall, which closed in the early 1990s, has been demolished. The Army has expanded activities at nearby Fort Gregg-Adams, home of the United States Army 's Sustainment Center of Excellence . The Army's Logistics Branch, Ordnance, Quartermaster, and the Transportation Corps moved there from Fort Eustis following
6322-522: The county and city governments that have had negative impact on regional cooperation. Prince George County is predominantly white while the city of Petersburg is roughly four-fifths black. These strained relationships have slowed regional progress and eroded business confidence, hampering economic development in the region to the present day. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, numerous remaining retail merchants, including Thalhimers , JC Penney , and Sears Roebuck , left older shopping areas in Petersburg for
6431-435: The county governments, who lost most of their commercial tax base, as well as the residents of the annexed suburban areas. Following the annexation, blacks realized that the annexations had added 8,000 new white residents. City council members were then elected at-large, requiring majority approval for each seat. Black civil rights organizations challenged the annexations in court, saying these were motivated to illegally dilute
6540-700: The dead or run back to the Union lines to fetch water. Following the Crater affair a Reb wrote his homefolk that all the colored prisoners "would have been killed had it not been for gen Mahone who beg our men to Spare them." One of his comrades killed several, he continued; Mahone "told him for God's sake stop." The man replied, "Well gen let me kill one more," whereupon, according to the correspondent, "he deliberately took out his pocket knife and cut one's throat." Union casualties were 3,798 (504 killed, 1,881 wounded, 1,413 missing or captured), Confederate 1,491 (361 killed, 727 wounded, 403 missing or captured). Disproportionate Union losses were suffered by Ferrero's division of
6649-442: The defenders in the area be killed, but also a hole in the Confederate defenses would be opened. If enough Union troops filled the breach quickly enough and drove into the Confederate rear area, the Confederates would not be able to muster enough force to drive them out, and Petersburg might fall. Burnside, whose reputation had suffered from his 1862 defeat at the Battle of Fredericksburg and his poor performance earlier that year at
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#17328873444866758-414: The diggers' progress. On July 17, the main shaft reached under the Confederate position. Rumors of a mine construction soon reached the Confederates, but Lee refused to believe or act upon them for two weeks before he commenced countermining attempts, which were sluggish and uncoordinated, and were unable to discover the mine. However, General John Pegram , whose batteries would be above the explosion, took
6867-782: The early 1950s when they were both in divinity school in New York state. In 1957 they co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), an important force for leadership of the movement in the South. Walker also founded the Petersburg Improvement Association (PIA), modeled on the Montgomery Improvement Association in Alabama . According to Walker and other close associates of King, Petersburg had played an important role,
6976-426: The earthworks and assaulted the Confederate lines, driving the Confederates back for several hours in hand-to-hand combat. Mahone's Confederates conducted a sweep out of a sunken gully area about 200 yards (180 m) from the right side of the Union advance. The charge reclaimed the earthworks and drove the Union force back towards the east. The Confederates rained mortar shells into the crater, killing scores of men in
7085-415: The entrance. A canvas partition isolated the miners' air supply from outside air and allowed miners to enter and exit the work area easily. The miners had constructed a vertical exhaust shaft located well behind Union lines. At the vertical shaft's base, a fire was kept continuously burning. A wooden duct ran the entire length of the tunnel and protruded into the outside air. The fire heated stale air inside of
7194-402: The federal Martin Luther King Jr. Day , becoming a true national holiday when South Carolina became the last state to sign the observance into law. In an attempt to stem its economic decline, in 1971 the city completed steps begun in 1966 to annex 14 square miles of land from adjacent and predominantly white counties of Prince George and Dinwiddie. The annexation had been generally supported by
7303-473: The first and second oldest black congregations in the city and two of the oldest in the nation. These black churches were the first Baptist churches established in Petersburg. The Gillfield Baptist Church obtained title to its land in 1818 and in 1859 completed a $ 7000 brick structure; the Petersburg African Baptist Church also owned its own sanctuary and the community also organized burial and other benevolent societies. Many free blacks in Virginia migrated to
7412-420: The foothills of the Blue Ridge and the Appalachian Mountains chain, to shipping further east into the Chesapeake Bay and North Atlantic Ocean . During the American Civil War (1861–1865), because of this railroad network, Petersburg became critical to Union plans to capture the Confederate States national capital established early in the war at Richmond. The 1864–65 Siege of Petersburg , which included
7521-435: The front lines, out of sight of the Confederates, the men of the USCT division were trained for two weeks on the plan. Despite the careful planning and intensive training, on the day before the attack, Meade, who lacked confidence in the operation, ordered Burnside not to use the black troops in the lead assault. He claimed that if the attack failed, black soldiers would be killed needlessly, creating political repercussions in
7630-536: The growing urban community, despite increasing legislative restrictions. Until 1860 Petersburg was a majority black American city, although the enslaved population had few legal rights. Between 1850 and 1860, Petersburg's free black community increased 24%, although industrial growth fueled an even greater increase in the white population. Of the 18,366 people counted in Petersburg by federal census takers in 1860, 9,342 were white, 5,680 were slaves, and 3,244 free blacks. Thus in 1860, nearly 26% of all free persons were black,
7739-550: The highest proportion in any Southern city. Free Black men worked as tobacco twisters, in iron foundries, and as draymen, boatmen and cabdrivers, or in the skilled trades of mason, wheelwright, coopers and blacksmiths. Free Black women worked in tobacco factories as stemmers, or as washerwomen or seamstresses or laborers. Plantation owners also brought slaves for hire into the city. As in many other upper South cities, many white households had slaves, but more than 40% were enslaving just one servant. Pocahontas Island (actually usually
7848-417: The idea as absurd. Meade brought charges against Burnside, and a subsequent court of inquiry censured him along with Brig. Gens. Ledlie, Ferrero, Orlando B. Willcox , and Col. Zenas R. Bliss . Burnside was removed from command of the IX Corps on August 26 and replaced with General John G. Parke . Although he was as responsible for the defeat as Burnside, Meade escaped immediate censure. However, in early 1865,
7957-564: The labor of numerous black slaves. In 1864, Petersburg became a target during the Overland Campaign of Union General Ulysses S. Grant . Its numerous railroads made the city a lifeline for Richmond, the Confederate capital. After his defeat at the Battle of Cold Harbor , Grant remained east of Richmond, crossed the James River and moved south to Petersburg. Grant intended to cut the rail lines into Petersburg, stopping Richmond's supplies. On June 9, troops led by William F. "Baldy" Smith of
8066-501: The lines in a bunker, drinking liquor throughout the battle: Ledlie was criticized by a court of inquiry into his conduct that September, and in December he was effectively dismissed from the Army by Meade on orders from Grant, formally resigning his commission on January 23, 1865. During the Civil War, Petersburg, Virginia , was an important railhead, where four railroad lines from the south met before they continued to Richmond, Virginia ,
8175-410: The mayor of Colonial Heights, James McNeer, met with Harris and members of his board to discuss job opportunities for blacks in the mall area. McNeer later became President of Richard Bland College . In the late 20th century, Petersburg worked to restore historic buildings and attract different kinds of stores and businesses to its historic center. During the 1993 Virginia tornado outbreak , Petersburg
8284-424: The men had to climb into and out of their own trenches just to reach no-man's land. Once they had wandered to the crater, instead of moving around it, as the USCT troops had been trained, they thought that it would make an excellent rifle pit in which to take cover. They therefore moved down into the crater itself, wasting valuable time and realizing too late that the crater was much too deep and exposed to function as
8393-571: The mid-20th century, such as industrial and railroad restructuring, reduced the number of jobs in the city. In addition, suburban development attracted people to newer housing outside the city. World wars led to major federal institutions being constructed near Petersburg, which created local jobs. Soon after World War I started, the US Army established Camp Lee just outside of Petersburg in Prince George County for training draftees. The facility
8502-528: The mine three days after it was completed after a failed attack known later as the First Battle of Deep Bottom . Union soldiers filled the mine with 320 kegs of gunpowder, totaling 8,000 pounds (3,600 kg). The explosives were approximately 20 feet (6 m) under the Confederate works, and the T-gap was packed shut with 11 feet (3 m) of earth in the side galleries. A further 32 feet (10 m) of packed earth
8611-404: The mine to be detonated between 3:30 and 3:45 a.m. on the morning of July 30. Pleasants lit the fuse accordingly, but as with the rest of the mine's provisions, they had been given poor-quality fuses, which his men were forced to splice themselves. After more and more time passed and no explosion occurred (the impending dawn creating a threat to the men at the staging points, who were in view of
8720-556: The new Southpark Mall that opened in 1989 in adjacent, and predominantly white, Colonial Heights . A Miller & Rhoads store in Petersburg closed when the department store chain went out of business in 1990. The Ku Klux Klan had held marches in Colonial Heights. After the new shopping mall opened, blacks led by civil rights activist Curtis W. Harris and the SCLC boycotted Southpark Mall for about five years. The boycott ended after
8829-455: The new United States. After the war, in 1784 Petersburg annexed the adjacent towns of Blandford (also called Blanford), Pocahontas and the outlying town of Ravenscroft, which became neighborhoods of the larger city. An area known as Gillfield was annexed in 1798. Residents' devotion to the cause of America two decades later during the War of 1812 (1812–1815) led to the formation of the militia unit of
8938-444: The north, south and west and sold supplies. Petersburg's industrialists processed cotton , tobacco and metal, then shipped the resulting products out of the region. Richmond and Petersburg became the two largest tobacco towns in the world, with Richmond selling 61% of the state's tobacco in 1861, and Petersburg 23%. Petersburg's cotton industry relied on waterpower since its inception in the 1830s, and by 1860 towns had developed around
9047-544: The offshore naval Battle of the Capes at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay , forcing the British resupply and evacuation fleet to withdraw. In October 1781, Lord Cornwallis surrendered to the superior allied Continental Army 's General George Washington and French General comte de Rochambeau . After two further years of infrequent conflict and many treaty parlies, the Revolutionary War ended with Britain formally recognizing
9156-411: The old Cold Harbor battlefield near Richmond to areas south of Petersburg. After Lee stopped Grant's attempt to seize Petersburg on June 15 , the battle settled into a stalemate. Grant had learned a hard lesson at Cold Harbor about attacking Lee in a fortified position and was chafing at the inactivity to which Lee's trenches and forts had confined him. Finally, Lt. Col. Henry Pleasants , commanding
9265-647: The post-bellum period, a historically black college which later developed as the Virginia State University was established nearby in Ettrick in Chesterfield County . In the 20th century, these and other black churches were leaders in the national Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s-1960s. Richard Bland College , now a junior college , was originally established here as a branch of Williamsburg's famed College of William and Mary . Petersburg remains
9374-445: The process. The weather was also very hot as it neared noon the sun was beating down on the crater relentlessly. Soldiers who were not killed outright by the Confederates dropped by the dozens from dehydration and heat stroke, worsened by the frantic mob of men jammed into a small area. Survivors could remember little due to the chaos in the crater, the shell fire, and the extreme heat. Some details were organized to pick up cartridges from
9483-516: The proposed annexation. After five years of litigation, with attorney Richard Cranwell representing Prince George County, the Virginia courts, including the Virginia Supreme Court , unanimously ruled that the cities had not shown that annexation would benefit their cities, nor was it necessary to provide governmental services to Prince George residents. The prolonged annexation fight contributed to decades of racially tinged hostility between
9592-578: The railroad companies repaired the damaged railroads to the city. Saint John's Episcopal Church was founded in Petersburg in 1868. In 1870 the General Assembly incorporated the Central Lunatic Asylum as an organized state institution, as part of an effort by the bi-racial Reconstruction -era legislature to increase public institutions for general welfare. The legislature also founded the state's first system of free public education. During
9701-572: The railroad to Weldon, North Carolina and the Southside Railroad . With the loss of Petersburg's crucial railroad lines, the Confederate forces had to retreat, ending the siege in a victory for the Union Army. The fall of Petersburg meant that Richmond could no longer be defended. Lee attempted to lead his men south to join up with Confederate forces in North Carolina. Hopelessly outnumbered, he
9810-463: The round of Base Realignment and Closure actions in 2005. In 2016, Petersburg faced the prospect of large-scale cuts to public services after a state audit found a $ 12 million (~$ 14.9 million in 2023) budget shortfall and the prospect of insolvency by the end of the year. Battle of the Crater Elements of the Army of Northern Virginia The Battle of the Crater took place during
9919-404: The same time) conceived plans for a city at Peter's Point, to be renamed Petersburgh . The Virginia General Assembly formally incorporated both Petersburg and adjacent Blandford on December 17, 1748. Wittontown, north of the river, was settled in 1749, and became incorporated as Pocahontas in 1752. Petersburg was enlarged slightly in 1762, adding 28 acres (110,000 m ) to "Old Town". During
10028-510: The schools in several localities including Warren County , Charlottesville and Norfolk , to be closed. The school board of Prince Edward County closed the public schools for five years, starting in 1959. In Petersburg, the Bollingbook School opened in 1958 as a segregation academy for white students. Retail and industry prospered until about the late 1980s. Petersburg was hit hard in 1985 when tobacco giant Brown & Williamson ,
10137-518: The south bank of the Appomattox River as far west as present-day Sycamore Street, and about 1 mile (1.6 km) inland. In 1646, the Virginia Colony established Fort Henry a short distance from the Appamatuck town, near the falls. It provided waterpower for mills and later industrialization. Col. Abraham Wood sent several famous expeditions out from here in the following years to explore points to
10246-558: The strategic advantage. Lord Cornwallis' forces coming up from the Carolinas into Virginia occupied Yorktown on the York River , waiting to meet a Royal Navy fleet. But a larger combined American-French army soon surrounded and besieged them. Cornwallis and his troops found themselves trapped and isolated when the French Navy's West Indies fleet under Admiral de Grasse sailed north and won
10355-421: The threat seriously enough to build a new line of trenches and artillery points behind his position as a precaution. Shafts were also sunk by the Confederates in an effort to intercept the passage. Pleasants became aware of the Confederate's counter-movements and was able to frustrate their effort by changing the direction of the main and lateral galleries while increasing their depth below the surface. The mine
10464-431: The three commanders draw lots. Brigadier General James H. Ledlie 's 1st Division was selected, but he failed to brief the men on what was expected of them and was reported during the battle to be drunk, well behind the lines, and not providing leadership. Ledlie would be dismissed for his actions during the battle. Ledlie, a civilian soldier with no proper military training, also commanded the smallest and weakest division in
10573-404: The tunnel, drawing it up the exhaust shaft and out of the mine by the chimney effect . The resulting vacuum then sucked fresh air in from the mine entrance via the wooden duct, which carried it down the length of the tunnel to the place in which the miners were working. That avoided the need for additional ventilation shafts, which could have been observed by the enemy, and it also easily disguised
10682-483: The voting power of blacks. A federal judge, citing provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, agreed and ordered the city to be divided into single-member districts , or wards, to enable blacks the opportunity to elect representatives of their choice. White flight from the annexed suburban neighborhoods began almost immediately. As residents of the city of Petersburg, their children would be required to attend
10791-417: The war. Grant wrote to Chief of Staff Henry W. Halleck , "It was the saddest affair I have witnessed in this war." He also stated to Halleck, "Such an opportunity for carrying fortifications I have never seen and do not expect again to have." Pleasants, who had no role in the battle itself, received praise for his idea and its execution. When he was appointed a brevet brigadier general on March 13, 1865,
10900-515: The west, as far as the Appalachian Mountains . Around 1675, Wood's son-in-law, Peter Jones, who then commanded the fort and traded with the Indians, opened a trading post nearby, known as Peter's Point . The Kennon and Bolling families, prominent tobacco planters and traders, also lived in the area and engaged in local politics. In 1733, Col. William Byrd II (who founded Richmond at
11009-534: Was 40 percent black in 1960. Under state segregation and Jim Crow laws, those citizens were barred from free use of public spaces and facilities. Major black churches, such as First Baptist and Gillfield Baptist, formed the moral center of the Civil Rights Movement in Petersburg, which gained strength in mid-century and was a center of action. Dr. Wyatt Tee Walker , the pastor of Gillfield Baptist Church, had become friends with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in
11118-419: Was in a "T"-shape. The approach shaft was 511 feet (156 m) long, starting in a sunken area downhill and more than 50 feet (15 m) below the Confederate battery, making detection difficult. The tunnel entrance was narrow, about 3 feet (1 m) wide and 4.5 feet (1.4 m) high. At its end, a perpendicular gallery of 75 feet (23 m) extended in both directions. Grant and Meade suddenly decided to use
11227-418: Was placed in the main gallery to prevent the explosion blasting out the mouth of the mine. On July 28, the powder charges were armed. Burnside had trained a division of United States Colored Troops (USCT) under Brigadier General Edward Ferrero to lead the assault. The division consisted of two brigades, one designated to go to the left of the crater and the other to the right. A regiment from both brigades
11336-427: Was removed by hand and packed into improvised sledges made from cracker boxes fitted with handles, and the floor, wall, and ceiling of the mine were shored up with timbers from an abandoned wood mill and even from tearing down an old bridge. The shaft was elevated as it moved toward the Confederate lines to make sure moisture did not clog up the mine, and fresh air was drawn in by an ingenious air-exchange mechanism near
11445-477: Was sealed off, and the Union forces were repulsed with severe casualties, while Brigadier General Edward Ferrero 's division of black soldiers was badly mauled. It may have been Grant's best chance to end the siege of Petersburg; instead, the soldiers settled in for another eight months of trench warfare. Burnside was relieved of command for his role in the fiasco, and he was never returned to command, while Ferrero and General James H. Ledlie were observed behind
11554-416: Was struck by an F4 tornado that swept through the downtown area, seriously damaging a number of restored historic buildings and businesses. The same tornado also touched down in Colonial Heights destroying a Walmart store. As of 2007, Petersburg has continued to evolve as a small city, and its commercial activities have changed. Downtown Petersburg, known as Old Towne, has had new businesses established in
11663-433: Was surrounded and forced to surrender at Appomattox Court House , Virginia, on April 9, 1865. In the years after the Civil War, many freedmen migrated to Petersburg, founding numerous churches, businesses and institutions. The Freedmen's Bureau established new facilities for freedmen , including a mental health hospital in December 1869, at Howard's Grove Hospital, a former Confederate unit. The U.S. Federal Government and
11772-505: Was to leave the attack column and extend the breach by rushing perpendicular to the crater, and the remaining regiments were to rush through, seizing the Jerusalem Plank Road just 1,600 feet (490 m) beyond, followed by the churchyard and, if possible, Petersburg itself. Burnside's two other divisions, made up of white troops, would then move in, supporting Ferrero's flanks and race for Petersburg itself. Two miles (3 km) behind
11881-521: Was used again during World War II . In 1950 the camp was designated as Fort Lee , and additional buildings were constructed to house the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps Center and School. During WWII Camp Pickett was established west of Petersburg near the small rural town of Blackstone , and the Defense Supply Center, Richmond opened in neighboring Chesterfield . In the postwar period, some of these installations have been reduced in size. In
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