An Archaeological Overview and Assessment of the
Main Unit, Petersburg National Battlefield, Virginia

Chapter Five:  A Summary of Historic Sites and Earthworks (Part B)

Northeastern Area Earthworks and Sites

Jordan house site: The Josiah Jordan house was known in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries as the estate of "Clermont," which was owned in the late eighteenth century by William Cole.  The boundaries of the estate were delineated in a survey of May 1797 (Figure 4.2).  The ownership history of the property is summarized in Chapter Four.  The 1837 County map (Figure 4.3) indicates two structures with fence-enclosed yards on the "Roane" property; the widow of the elder Josiah Jordan remarried a Mr. Roane.  The home was owned by the younger Josiah Jordan and his family at the time of its destruction in 1864 or 1865 during the Civil War siege.

The site of the house is located very close to the present visitors center; a cemetery associated with the house is located in the woods near the site of Confederate Battery 6.  The cemetery ("old burial ground"), the apparent location of the Jordan house ("excavation"), and three concrete foundations are shown on the 1930s NPS topographic map (NPS 1935a).  The origin of these concrete foundations is not known.  The same map indicates an early NPS entrance road from Route 36 to Confederate Battery 5.  A radio transmission tower for station WPHR stood on current park property in the mid-1930s, east of the burial ground near Route 36.

The subsequent construction of the visitors center and associated parking area during the 1960s obviously disrupted archaeological evidence from the eighteenth and nineteenth century plantation.  Despite these twentieth-century intrusions, the remaining archaeological integrity and potential for research may be determined through testing.

Friend house site: The Nathaniel Friend house was known in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries as the estate of "White Hill," which was owned in the late eighteenth century by Robert Turnbull.  The boundaries of this estate in relation to the neighboring one of "Clermont" were defined in the May 1797 survey (Figure 4.2).  The ownership history of the property is summarized in Chapter Four.  The 1837 Couty map indicates at least three structures surrounded by trees on the "Nat^l Friend" property.  The home was still owned by Nathaniel Friend and his family during the Civil War.  The house survived the siege and remained standing into the early twentieth century, although the property and associated buildings sustained much damage.

The house site is currently located in the woods west of the current maintenance area for the park.  Several "old excavations" and an "old building excavation" may have related to the ante bellum plantation, while "old concrete" foundations evidently are associated with later occupation of the property.  One of these foundations is still visible at present.  The continued occupation of the property into the twentieth century may have impacted the earlier colonial and pre-Civil War archaeological record; in this sense, the site is similar to the Taylor site in the central area to be discussed.  The Friend site would, however, contain an interesting record of diachronic change on a large Virginia farm from the late eighteenth into the twentieth centuries.

House on terrace above Harrison Creek: A house is shown on the low (40-50 foot) Chowan terrace above Harrison Creek below the bluff of the 100-foot terrace on both the 1863 Campbell map (Figure 4.4) and Union Army Engineer map (Figure 4.5).  The house is not labelled with the name of an owner or tenant on the 1863 map, but is labelled "Gibbon" on the 1864 Union map and "Gibben" on the 1867 Michler map (Figure 5.1).  The Friend house is labelled "Gibbon (or Friend)" on the 1864 map.  (The Gibbons house to be discussed later is shown on the Prince George Court House Road on the 1863 map, and is labelled "Ruins" on the 1864 map.)

This house was probably associated with the Friend plantation, and may have served as the residence of a plantation overseer.  The 1837 County map shows four structures labelled "Quarter"—probably indicative of slave quarters—at this location between Harrison Creek and the newly-constructed City Point Rail Road.  A farm road leading from the boundary lane between the Jordan and Friend houses down the bluff to the City Point Road was shown adjacent to this structure on the 1863 and 1864 maps.  The 1863 shows farm fields surrounding the terrace house, which lay on lands that had been a portion of the "White Hill" estate since the late eighteenth century.  The 1865 land tax records indicated that $2000 of a total buildings value of $3240 had been deducted for the destruction of buildings during the siege (PG Co. Land Tax 1865), which clearly indicates that structures other than the Friend dwelling had stood on the plantation. 

The trace of the farm lane is shown on the 1930s NPS topographic map (NPS 1935a), but no evidence relating to the house site was indicated.  A surface reconnaissance did not yield any trace of the house site in 1999.  Indications of later activity are reflected in the prepared road or street car grade running parallel to the rail road tracks.  However, the archaeological potential of this property may be considerable, particularly if the structures were associated with slave quarters on, an overseer for, or a tenant within the larger Friend plantation.

Prince George Court House and Jordan's Point roads:  A road was constructed between the City Point Road east of Petersburg and the small hamlet of legal offices and the county court, known as Prince George Court House.  The road was probably constructed in the third quarter of the eighteenth century and is indicated on the 1797 boundary survey (PG Co. Surveyor's Record 1797:22).  The road bifurcated at a point where Confederate Dimmock Battery 9 was constructed; the south fork led to the court house, while the north fork—called Jordan's Point Road—led to the James River.  The latter also is indicated on the 1797 boundary survey.

These roads were important routes leading to Petersburg in the mid-nineteenth century, and continued in use into the twentieth century.  The creation of Camp (later Fort) Lee ultimately eliminated Jordan's Point Road east of the park, although Prince George Court House Road extends through Fort Lee toward the court house.  The portions of the two roads from the eastern park boundary to their junction at the site of Battery 9 are preserved as elements of the park trail system.  The modern park tour road overlies the trace of Prince George Court House Road from Battery 9 across Harrison Creek to the Hare house site.  The historic trace of the Prince George Court House Road is oriented northwestward toward the City Point Road (Route 645) at this point, serving both as a hiking trail and as a small portion of the park boundary.

Boundary lane: The 1797 boundary survey between "Clermont" and "White Hill" (PG Co. Surveyor's Record 1797:22) indicated a path or boundary lane between the two properties.  This boundary lane is indicated on the early and mid-nineteenth century maps as connecting City Point Road to the west with Jordan's Point Road to the east.  The lane and the ravine through which it ran evidently provided an important route of access for invading Union troops in June 1864.  Union forces advanced from the James River on June 15 and assaulted the Dimmock line at several points.  Confederate General Beauregard stated that the heaviest attacks initially fell upon batteries 5-7:

Shortly after 7 P. M. the enemy entered a ravine between Batteries 6 and 7, and succeeded in flanking Battery No. 5. (Beauregard 1887:540,541)

Confederate General Wise stated in his report that the portion of the Dimmock line from batteries 3 to 11 was then broken, and the Confederates fell back to Battery 14 (Beauregard 1887:541).  It would seem that the ravine was the one in which the boundary lane was located.

The lane is indicated on the late nineteenth-century USGS map (USGS 1894) and on the NPS topographic map (NPS 1935a) when it provided access to the concrete loading platforms adjacent to the rail road tracks.  The NPS ultimately closed this road, but the abandoned trace still extends through the ravine between the maintenance center and the visitors center.

Confederate earthworks- the Dimmock line: The discontinuous line of 55 numbered batteries and associated trenches or rifle pits was designed by Dimmock and erected during 1863 around the southern side of Petersburg (O.R. Atlas 1863).  The eastern and western ends of the Dimmock line were anchored on the Appomattox River; the batteries were placed on high ground whenever possible and positioned to defend major transportation routes or natural ravines.  As indicated above, batteries 3-13 fell or were abandoned in response to the Union attack on June 15, 1864.  The remnants or sites of batteries 4-13 are located within the Main Unit; 4-9 within the northeast area (Figure 5.1) and 10-13 in the southeast area.

Dimmock Battery 4 (site): No visible trace of the 4 gun battery (Plate 5.1) is visible at present, although portions of the rifle pit trench connecting the position with Battery 5 have survived.  The site is located at the edge of the 100 foot bluff near the Jordan house site; Battery 4 faced westward toward a lower terrace of the Appomattox River, on which were located the rail road and road to City Point and Dimmock batteries 1-3.

Dimmock Battery 5: The parapet of Battery 5 is well-preserved.  The battery faced north near the edge of the Jordan house bluff.  The original V-shaped Confederate works, which had 16 gun positions (Plates 5.2 and 5.3), was expanded south of the western magazine as Union troops occupied the position during the siege.  It will be noted that a sherd of coarse-tempered Woodland? ceramic was recovered from the surface near Battery 5 in 1978.  The connecting rifle pit trench to Battery 6 has been obliterated.

Dimmock Battery 6 (site): Some very slight traces of Battery 6 are visible near the historic cemetery associated with the Jordan house.  The site of the 6 gun battery (Plate 5.4) faced eastward across the ravine of a stream flowing toward the Appomattox River.

Dimmock Battery 7: The works are well-preserved; the original 1 gun position (Plate 5.5), in concert with Battery 6, defended the ravine and lane between the Jordan and Friend houses.  The battery is currently encircled by the park entrance road from the eastbound lane of Route 36.

Dimmock Battery 8 (later Union Fort Friend): The parapet is well-preserved (Plate 5.6).  The original Confederate 4 gun battery faced eastward, while additions created by Union forces faced westward.  The battery was sited on a bluff spur above a tributary to Harrison Creek.  The construction of the park tour road and parking area had some impact on the archaeological integrity of the site.

Dimmock Battery 9 (site): Minimal remnants of Battery 9 are visible at the junction of the former Jordan's Point and Prince George Court House roads.  The original 3 gun battery (Plate 5.7) faced eastward to command the approaches along these roads.  The site has been impacted by subsequent road improvements and NPS construction of the tour road and a tour stop.  Remnants of the battery are indicated on the 1935 NPS topographic map (Figure 4.10).

Union encampment area: The initial Union assault on Petersburg was undertaken by several corps of the Army of the Potomac.  By the winter of 1865, the portion of the siege line within the Main Unit was occupied by the First and Third divisions of the Ninth Corps, as indicated on the Union Engineers map of 1866 (Figure 4.6).  A map prepared by Francis Knowles to illustrate an account of the battle of Fort Stedman (Hodgkins 1889) indicates specific encampment areas assigned to the Ninth Corps regiments in March 1865 (Figure 5.2).  Two such areas lie within the northeast area: the 17th Michigan Regiment encampment near the corps headquarters at the Friend house, and the 200th Pennsylvania Regiment encampment between Battery 8/Fort Friend and Harrison Creek.  The terrain generally falls away toward the creek, resulting in no obvious level area except on the flood plain along the east side of the creek.