Housing Several Thousand Federal Troops

Housing Several Thousand Federal Troops. Four Centuries: City Point, Virginia 1613 A.D.. , "To a civilian, a camp is always a sad-looking sight , men living on the ground like animals, in the mud, under the rain which penetrates the tents, surrounded by the thick and acrid smoke of burning wood. Army camps are wild and primitive villages... Yet, the inhabitants of these camps are writing history today." – Auguste Laugel, a Frenchman visiting Grant at City Point, Though tents and huts were normal accommodations at City Point, Brevet Major W.P. Martin, a commissary officer, and his family were fortunate to find shelter in the residence of Captain Samuel Nelson Cook. The Cook House was appropriated by Union forces during the occupation of City Point 1864-65. The property was returned to Captain Cook August 1865, remaining in the Cook family until sold to Dr. Edward Ashlin Wilson in 1943., [Captions:] , Civilian visitors lodged in the well-appointed Maltby House, a hotel which stood near the present site of the James House (1016 Maplewood) shown above in an early photograph., The Cook House, 600 Prince Henry Avenue (on the left), was built 1857-58 by Captain Samuel Nelson Cook, Mariner, on land acquired from Dr. Richard Eppes of Appomattox Plantation. Mr. Joseph Cook, son of Captain Cook, made additions to the house in 1890. He also built the two story Cook annex, immediately behind his house for the daughter in 1913. St. John's Rectory, 602 Prince Henry Avenue (on the right), was built in 1848 as a home for the Episcopal minister. Its most likely use was as headquarters for the Commissary Department., The area behind the interior defense line was dotted with regimental encampments as were sections of land west of Cedar Lane. Tents and huts can be seen in almost every picture taken at City Point during the Civil War.