Battlefield Terrain

A small branch of Arthur’s Swamp created a ravine that shaped both Confederate defenses and the Union attack. Confederate engineers built a military dam here and ended the fortifications on either bank of the stream, relying on the resulting “inundation,” a pond behind the dam, instead of placing earthworks and soldiers in the swamp. The pond was intended to obstruct attacking troops and expose them to soldiers positioned behind the works on both sides, and another such dam stood several hundred yards downstream, but neither was functional on April 2, 1865. In the darkness that morning, the ravine served as an important landmark for the attacking Union troops: soldiers from Vermont aligned along the far bank, while troops from Maryland, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania advanced along the opposite side, and near here the first Union troops broke through the Confederate fortifications.

Virginia · United States