The Death of A.P. Hill

Where Hill Fell Marker
Southwest of Petersburg on the northwest side of Boydton Plank Road (US 1) less than a mile northeast of Airport Road and the intersection with Interstate 85
Petersburg, VA 23803

Ambrose Powell Hill was born on November 9, 1825 in Culpeper, Virginia. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1842, and was commissioned as an officer in the 1st U.S. Artillery. Hill served in Mexico during the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) during the closing stages of the war. Following the war, Hill went on to serve against the Seminoles in Florida, and with the U.S. Coastal Survey in Washington, D.C. In March 1861, Hill resigned from the United States Army to join the Confederate cause.

Hill served with distinction in a number of the major campaigns and battles of the Civil War including the Peninsula Campaign (March – July 1862), the Second Battle of Bull Run/Second Manassas (August 28 – August 30, 1862), and the Battle of Antietam (September 17, 1862). During his service with the Confederate Army, Hill had two feuds with Confederate generals James Longstreet and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson. The latter feud resulted in Hill being arrested for neglect of duty during the 1862 Maryland Campaign. He was reinstated prior to the Battle of Antietam.

Hill was plagued with bad health throughout the second half of 1864 and early in 1865. He returned to the army in time to participate in the Siege of Petersburg. During this time, Hill continued to battle health problems. On April 2, 1865, Hill was riding close to the front lines with a staff officer and was shot dead by a Union soldier. The soldier was part of the Union force that had broken through the Confederate defensive lines at Petersburg. Hill died at age 39, just seven days before Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House.

Below are two links with more information on A.P. Hill along with two photos that I took of the marker in 2009:

http://www.stonesentinels.com/Petersburg-West/Where_Hill_Fell-S49.php

http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/a-p-hill

MW

Violet Bank

Violet Bank 
326 Royal Oak Ave.
Colonial Heights, VA 23834

The land upon which Violet Bank sits was obtained by Thomas Shore in 1777. The first home on the property was built in 1778. During the American Revolution, the house and land served as the headquarters of the Marquis de Lafayette at the beginning of the 1781 summer campaign in the American South. The home was also witness to some of the military actions associated with the April 25, 1781 Battle of Blandford or Battle of Petersburg. The 1781 summer campaign eventually resulted in the defeat of the British army under Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown.

The original home on the property was destroyed by fire in 1810. The current home was built in 1815 by Thomas Shore's widow, Jane Grey, and her second husband. Violet Bank served as General Robert E. Lee's headquarters from June 8, 1864 to November 1, 1864. On July 30, 1864, Lee received word at Violet Bank that Union troops had detonated 8,000 pounds of explosives under Confederate positions in Petersburg. This action initiated the Battle of the Crater.

Below are the links to three websites with more information on Violet Bank, as well as some photos that I took during my 2009 visit:

http://www.colonialheightsva.gov/facilities/facility/details/Violet-Bank-Museum-44 

http://www.richmond.com/real_estate/richmond-neighborhoods/article_be4c9928-be36-11e2-b01e-0019bb30f31a.html

http://www.colonialheightsva.gov/index.aspx?NID=499

MW

Fort Clifton

Fort Clifton Park
100 Brockwell Ln.
Colonial Heights, VA 23834

During the Civil War, Fort Clifton was a Confederate Army stronghold on the Appomattox River in present-day Colonial Heights, Virginia. Between 1864 and 1865, the fort served as an important link in the Confederate defensive line that defended Petersburg and Richmond from Union naval attacks. The fort was located on a high bluff at the junction of the Appomattox River and Swift Creek, and controlled navigation on the river north of Petersburg. On June 11, 1864, Confederate forces drove away five Union ships that attacked the fort. The fort was not taken by Union forces until the fall of Petersburg on April 2, 1865.

Fort Clifton Park consists of 24 acres overlooking the Appomattox River, and contains a number of preserved earthworks, hiking trails and historical markers.

Below are two links with more information on Fort Clifton, along with several photos that I took during my 2009 visit:

http://www.colonialheightsva.gov/facilities/facility/details/Fort-Clifton-Park-34

http://www.progress-index.com/article/20140323/News/303239939

MW

48th Pennsylvania Infantry

48th Pennsylvania Infantry Monument
The Intersection of South Crater Road and South Sycamore Street
Petersburg, VA 23805

The 48th Pennsylvania Infantry was known as the Schuylkill Regiment because the unit consisted of soldiers primarily from Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. The regiment was organized at Camp Curtin in Harrisburg, PA in 1861, and was mustered into federal service in September that year. The unit saw action at a number of major battles over the course of the war including the battles of Second Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Courthouse, Cold Harbor, Petersburg and the Crater.

The unit is best known for the actions of some of its soldiers at the Siege of Petersburg. Lieutenant Colonel Henry Pleasants, who worked as a mining engineer on the civilian side, proposed digging a long mine shaft and planting explosives under a well-defended Confederate fort. Soon after, members of the 48th began digging the mine shaft. Upon completion of the mine shaft, the gallery of the mine shaft was filled with 8,000 pounds of gunpowder under the Confederate positions. In the morning of July 30, 1864, the explosives were detonated. The explosion instantly killed around 350 Confederate soldiers. The explosion initiated the Battle of the Crater, which oddly enough, ended in a Union defeat when Union forces failed to capitalize on the early morning explosion.

The unit was mustered out of service on July 17, 1865. Over the course of the war, the unit had a total strength of 858 officers and enlisted men. The unit suffered a total of 301 casualties during the Civil War. The memorial to the 48th Pennsylvania Infantry sits in Petersburg, not too far from where the Battle of the Crater was fought. The unit is also memorialized with a monument at Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland.

Below are three links with more information on the 48th Pennsylvania Infantry, along with some photos I took during my 2009 visit:

https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/48th_Regiment,_Pennsylvania_Infantry

http://48thpennsylvania.blogspot.com/

http://www.nps.gov/pete/learn/historyculture/the-crater.htm

MW