Petersburg Battlefields

From Fort Welch, the surrounding ground was the scene of three distinct battles during the Petersburg campaign. On October 2, 1864, on the last day of the Battle of Peebles' Farm, Federal forces advanced across the ground to the left in an effort to capture the Boydton Plank Road, a key Confederate intermediate supply route. The attack failed, but the Federals gained a foothold and established the line of works at Fort Welch. On March 25, 1865, in the Battle of Jones Farm, Federals attacked and captured the Confederate picket line to the front. That success set the stage for the massive Union assault across the field a week later, when on April 2 the Federals finally broke through the Southern lines in the attack known as the Breakthrough, causing the entire Confederate front to collapse.

Petersburg, Virginia · United States