1864-1865: The Bombardment of Petersburg

During the siege of Petersburg, the city endured an extraordinary shelling that a local historian called exceptional in world history. More than 800 buildings were estimated to have been struck during the nine and a half month campaign beginning on June 19, 1864, and although apparently fewer than half a dozen residents were killed, the damage to property throughout the city was considerable. After Robert E. Lee's army surrendered at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865, Northern occupation forces in Petersburg assessed the bombardment's damage. Assisted by a local guide, Mr. Bowden, Captain Graham surveyed each street, identified which structures had been hit by enemy artillery and who lived there, and plotted those buildings on a large map of Petersburg. U.S. Engineers Graham and Lieutenant Lydecker completed the map at a scale of 8 inches to a mile, with numbers next to buildings indicating shell strikes.

Petersburg, Virginia · United States