The Civil War Years

In the fall of 1864, the Civil War reached the Banks property when Confederate soldiers of Brigadier General James H. Lane’s North Carolina brigade camped near the house in October and began building earthwork fortifications about 500 yards to its south, while other units established winter quarters north of the Boydton Plank Road, now U.S. Route 1. Margaret Banks at times entertained Confederate officers and provided rooms for women visiting husbands, sons, and brothers camped nearby. On the morning of April 2, 1865, Union troops attacked and broke through the Confederate defenses southwest of the Banks House, and brief skirmishing took place around the building as Confederates tried to hold back the advance before falling back to Fort Gregg about 1,600 yards to the northeast. Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant and his staff arrived at the Banks House about 10:45 a.m. and established headquarters there, where for a short time they were under Confederate artillery fire. Grant probably spent the night in or around the house, then left the next morning to ride into Petersburg, which General Robert E. Lee and his army had evacuated, in order to meet President Lincoln.

Virginia · United States