Lincoln In Petersburg

Lincoln In Petersburg (HMWT6)

Location: Petersburg, VA 23805
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Country: United States of America
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N 37° 12.123', W 77° 23.066'

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Inscription

Tears at Fort Mahone

On the morning of April 3, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln awoke at City Point to the news that Petersburg had fallen just hours before. He immediately arranged to visit the city and meet with Gen. Ulysses S. Grant that morning. Lincoln and his party, including his son Tad and Adm. David Porter, arrived south of here at Hancock Station on the U.S. Military Railroad at about 10 A.M.

Riding on horseback north along the Jerusalem Plank Road (present-day Crater Road), the group stopped at the abandoned Confederate fortifications along the Dimmock Line. Here Lincoln climbed the parapet of Fort Mahone, also called Fort Damnation (on Walnut Hill Elementary School site), one of the strongest points in the lines. The Union IX Corps assault had taken place here the previous day. Many bloated bodies, both Union and Confederate, still lay sprawled about. Among them were members of Union Gen. Charles H.T. Collis's colorful 114th Pennsylvania Regiment (Zouaves), whom Lincoln had seen on guard duty at City Point earlier in the week. A cavalryman in the escort saw tears streaming down Lincoln's cheeks. His bodyguard, William Crook, noticed that Lincoln's face had "settled into its old lines of sadness" over the war's enormous cost in human lives and suffering. His expression soon brightened, however, when he entered the city to the cheers of Union soldiers and rode to the Thomas Wallace House to see Grant.

(sidebar)
In March 1865, Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant invited President Abraham Lincoln to visit him at City Point for a respite from the capital as the 9½-month-Iong siege of Petersburg neared its end. Lincoln joined him on March 24. They held meetings, reviewed the army, and toured fortifications. On April 3, the day the Federals occupied Richmond and Petersburg, Lincoln and Grant held their last meeting in Petersburg. Lincoln visited Richmond the next day. He returned to Washington on April 9 as Grant accepted the surrender of Gen. Robert E. Lee's army at Appomattox Court House.
Details
HM NumberHMWT6
Series This marker is part of the Virginia Civil War Trails series
Tags
Placed ByVirginia Civil War Trails
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Friday, September 5th, 2014 at 8:52am PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)18S E 288388 N 4119950
Decimal Degrees37.20205000, -77.38443333
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 37° 12.123', W 77° 23.066'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds37° 12' 7.38" N, 77° 23' 3.96" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)804, 434
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 1960-1992 Wakefield St, Petersburg VA 23805, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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