P is for Petersburg

Much has been written about the Petersburg Campaign, also known as the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign and the Siege of Petersburg.  Although not a traditional siege in that one city was attacked and bombarded exclusively, this campaign involved a series of trenches over 30 miles long, a tactic that would foreshadow the trench warfare of World War I.

The campaign, fought from June 1864 to March 1865, was a decisive time in the Civil War:  General Robert E. Lee retreated and surrendered of the Confederate forces just after in April 1865.

Those of you who are familiar with Petersburg and have watched Mercy Street on PBS will recognize that, although the series was set in Alexandria, it was filmed in large part in Old Town Petersburg.  The Battle of the Crater, which also took place during the Petersburg Campaign, was depicted in the movie Cold Mountain.