In March of 1865 Abraham Lincoln left behind the pressures of Washington and traveled to visit Lt. Gen. Grant at City Point. He spent two weeks at City Point, touring the front and reviewing troops.
On March 27, 1865, Abraham Lincoln, his wife . . . — — Map (db m109395) HM
Ending the war by a direct attack on Richmond was a key component of the Federal war effort in the east. Federal naval forces also blockaded the Confederate coast while the Federal army fought to capture key coastal cities and ports along the . . . — — Map (db m73966) HM
Like its pre-war economy, much of the southern war effort relied on slave labor. When Richmond became the capital for the newly formed Confederacy, both freedmen and slaves were used to maintain railroads, build fortifications, and perform other . . . — — Map (db m109390) HM
This is a composite of two photographs taken of the Appomattox River from this location. The signal tower in the background was near present day R. Garland Dodd Park at Point of Rocks.
This sign was sponsored by Stewart O'Bannon III . . . — — Map (db m109396) HM
Broadway Landing was located three miles up the Appomattox River from City Point. It was the main supply depot for Federal artillery during the siege of Petersburg. Artillery pieces and ammunition were transported by ship or barge and offloaded . . . — — Map (db m109393) HM
When the Bermuda Hundred Campaign began, Confederate forces south of the James River were widely scattered across southern Virginia and eastern North Carolina. Confederate eyes were focused on events to the north where the Battle of the Wilderness . . . — — Map (db m73969) HM
The wooded area in front of you contains rare examples of a radiant heat system called a Crimean Oven. This system was used to heat hospital tents at Point of Rocks during the Civil War. The concept behind Crimean Ovens dates back to the days of the . . . — — Map (db m109398) HM
In March of 1864 Ulysses S. Grant was placed in command of all Federal forces. Grant's plan to end the war envisioned a multi-front invasion across the entire Confederacy to negate the South's ability to shift forces from one front to another. . . . — — Map (db m73965) HM
Lt. Gen. Grant’s strategy was to attack the Confederate armies on multiple fronts simultaneously so that they could not reinforce each other. In the early days of May 1864, Maj. Gen. George G. Meade moved the Army of the Potomac across the Rapidan . . . — — Map (db m73970) HM
From May 1864 until the end of the Civil War in April 1865, this land was the site of a large hospital for Federal troops who fought in the Bermuda Hundred Campaign and the Siege of Petersburg. Historic Point of Rocks is within the historic boundary . . . — — Map (db m73972) HM
Point of Rocks takes its name from a 60-foot high sandstone cliff located here along the Appomattox River. The site was used by Native Americans as a camp and observation point, and was mentioned by Captain John Smith in his notes on Virginia. A . . . — — Map (db m109399) HM
Patients at Point of Rocks Hospital were under the care of two pioneer women in the field of medicine, Clara Barton and Harriet Dame. At a time when most women were not allowed to be near the fighting, these women saw the war close up at field . . . — — Map (db m109378) HM
Battles at Port Walthall Junction
At about 4:00 PM on May 6, 1864 Brig. Gen. Charles Heckman's brigade moved down Ruffin Mill Road toward Port Walthall Junction where 600 soldiers from Brig. Gen. Johnson Hagood's South Carolina brigade . . . — — Map (db m73971) HM
Point of Rocks, named for a sandstone cliff on the Appomattox River, marked the southern end of the Union defensive line that stretched across the Bermuda Hundred peninsula. In May 1864, the Union army seized property east of the present-day park . . . — — Map (db m54255) HM
Shortly after the Army of the James landed in Bermuda Hundred, a field hospital was established here at Point of Rocks. The hospital originally consisted of tents set up in the orchard around the Strachan House. The tents were 50 feet long and . . . — — Map (db m109377) HM
This photograph was taken from across the Appomattox River behind you.
The large hospital ward in the photograph once stood in this field in front of you.
This sign was sponsored by Douglas Waters, Carrollton, TX — — Map (db m109392) HM
This photograph was taken from this spot in 1865. The flat area in front of you is where the hut in the photograph once stood. In June of 1864 a pontoon bridge was built across the marshy ground in the photograph. The first attacks on . . . — — Map (db m109374) HM
”On June 26,...just as we were having roll call and the men were about to retire for the night, the boom of a cannon a little way down the river, and the whizzing of a shell as it sped us by, aroused us to the fact that the enemy was . . . — — Map (db m109376) HM
On May 4, 1864, Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler began to load 38,000 men of the Army of the James on transport ships at Newport News and Yorktown, Virginia. Their goal was a neck of land in Chesterfield County known as Bermuda Hundred. Butler was to . . . — — Map (db m73967) HM
In April of 1864, Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant met with Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler and approved his plan for attacking Richmond by moving an army up the James River. Grant decided that while the Army of the Potomac moved against Robert E. Lee and the . . . — — Map (db m73968) HM
"Petersburg at that hour was clearly at the mercy of the Federal Commander who had all but captured it"
Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard on the June 15th attack at Petersburg.
On June 9, 1864, as Grant prepared to shift his army . . . — — Map (db m180819) HM
After taking heavy losses at Cold Harbor, Lt. Gen. Grant made the decision to move his army across the James River and attack Petersburg. The capture of that city and its key rail links would cut off Richmond from the rest of the Confederacy. . . . — — Map (db m109386) HM
This house was constructed in 1841 by Rev. John Alexander Strachan, founder of Enon Baptist Church. Rev. Strachan also preached at several other congregations in the area. Family stories describe him rowing a boat across the Appomattox River to . . . — — Map (db m74662) HM
The United States Submarine Propeller Alligator
The green, 47-foot-long Alligator was the U.S. Navy's first submarine—a technological wonder of the Civil War era.
French engineer Brutus de Villeroi designed the . . . — — Map (db m109375) HM
Thousands of African-American troops served in the Army of the James under the official designation of United States Colored Troops (USCT).
Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler was a strong proponent of the use of African-American troops and had more . . . — — Map (db m180820) HM
Gabriel Archer wrote about a high rock cliff that projected into the channel of the Appomattox River upstream of its confluence with the James. When exploring the river in 1608, Smith found verdant marshes the likes of which can still be seen here . . . — — Map (db m181457) HM
