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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.
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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
PAMP_030425_02.JPG: Lunch was held in the cafeteria of the Pamplin Historic Park. This status sits outside of it.
PAMP_030425_08.JPG: Pamplin received an award from the CWPT this year because it made history fun. This is one of the school groups that was visiting while we were having lunch. In general, museums are considered "successful" if admission fees cover one-third of their costs and by that measure, Pamplin is a success. They receive large amounts of money from a Pamplin charitable foundation as well as from other public and private sources.
PAMP_030425_32.JPG: The Banks House, which Pamplin owns. During the Federal offensive on April 2 1865, Confederates were pushed away from this site and Grant came here to lead the offensive against the nearby Fort Gregg. He is presumed to have slept in the house or on the grounds that night.
PAMP_030425_36.JPG: The Civil War Years
The Banks House
"Christmas has come and gone. I spent it at Mrs. Banks' where I had quite a sumptuous repast, finishing up with eggnog, cake, etc. I ate so much sponge cake that whenever you would touch me, it would be just like squeezing an India rubber ball."
-- Lieutenant Edwin I. Kurisheedt, Washington (Louisiana) Artillery, CSA
In the fall of 1864, the Civil War arrived at the Banks property. Confederate soldiers of Brigadier General James H. Lane's North Carolina brigade established camps near the house in October and began constructing earthwork fortifications about 500 yards south of the house. Other units erected their winter quarters in the area north of the Boydton Plank Road, today's U.S. Route 1. Margaret Banks entertained Confederate officers from time to time and provided rooms for women who were visiting their husbands, sons, and brothers camped nearby.
Union troops attacked and broke through the Confederate defenses southwest of the Banks House on the morning of April 2, 1865. Brief skirmishing occurred around the structure as the Confederates sought to stem the blue tide, but the Southerners had to fall back to Fort Gregg, about 1,600 yards to the northeast. Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant and his staff reached the Banks House about 10:45 a.m., and Grant established his headquarters here. For a brief period, the Union officers came under Confederate artillery fire. Grant probably spent the night in or around the home. The following morning, Grant left to ride into Petersburg, evacuated by General Robert E. Lee and his army, to meet with President Lincoln.
"General Grant dismounted near a farm house which stood on a knoll, from which he could get a good view of the field of operations. He seated himself on the ground at the foot of a tree, and was soon busy receiving dispatches and writing orders to officers conducting the advance. The position was under fire, and as soon as the group of staff officers was seen, the enemy's guns began paying their respects to the party. This lasted for about a quarter of an hour, and as the fire became hotter and hotter, several of the officers, apprehensive for the general's safety, urged him to move to some less conspicuous position, but he kept on writing and talking, without the least interruption from the shots falling around him, and apparently not noticing what a target the place was becoming, or paying any heed to the gentle reminders to ?move on.' After he had finished his dispatches he got up, took a view of the situation, and as he started toward the other side of the farm house said with a quizzical look at the group around him, 'Well, they do seem to have the range on us,' ?"
-- Lt. Colonel Horace Porter, Staff Officer, USA
AAA "Gem": AAA considers this location to be a "must see" point of interest. To see pictures of other areas that AAA considers to be Gems, click here.
Description of Subject Matter: Journey back into the 19th Century at Pamplin Historical Park and The National Museum of the Civil War Soldier! Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, a Virginia Historic Landmark, and a National Historic Landmark, Pamplin Historical Park is recognized as one of America's premier historical attractions and as the most innovative Civil War history park in the country.
Located on the site of the April 2, 1865 "Breakthrough," the battle that ended the Petersburg Campaign and led to the evacuation of the Confederate capital at Richmond, the Park's 422 acres include four award-winning museums, four antebellum homes, living history venues, and shopping and dining facilities. Costumed interpreters conduct engaging demonstrations of military and civilian life of the Civil War era. Historians conduct guided tours of the battlefield and plantation homes daily.
The award-winning National Museum of the Civil War Soldier forms the Park's centerpiece. Here, the story of the 3 million common soldiers who fought in America's bloodiest conflict is told in breathtaking fashion using the latest museum technology. An impressive artifact collection is set amidst lifelike settings. Interactive learning stations attract kids and grownups alike. The entire experience is keyed to an audio tour featuring the words and "voices" of real participants in the war. Museums interpreting plantation life, slavery in America, and the Breakthrough battlefield of April 2, 1865 are within a short walk of the National Museum.
The Park also offers three miles of interpreted trails winding through some of America's best-preserved Civil War fortifications. Wheelchairs and scooters may be available for those needing assistance. Pamplin Historical Park draws visitors worldwide. Open 362 days annually, Pamplin Historical Park has received accolades from a wide range of national and regional media and has been rated by AAA Automotive Club as a Gem attraction.
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Directly Related Pages: Other pages with content (VA -- Petersburg -- Pamplin Historical Park) directly related to this one:
[Display ALL photos on one page]:
2015_VA_Pamplin_Tudor: VA -- Petersburg -- Pamplin Historical Park -- Tudor Hall Plantation (151 photos from 2015)
2015_VA_Pamplin_Rifle_150603: VA -- Petersburg -- Pamplin Historical Park -- Rifle Demonstration (18 photos from 2015)
2015_VA_Pamplin_NMCWS: VA -- Petersburg -- Pamplin Historical Park -- Natl Museum of the Civil War Soldier (124 photos from 2015)
2015_VA_Pamplin_Breakthru: VA -- Petersburg -- Pamplin Historical Park -- Breakthrough Battlefield Tour (105 photos from 2015)
2015_VA_Pamplin_BCM: VA -- Petersburg -- Pamplin Historical Park -- Battlefield Center Museum (52 photos from 2015)
Sort of Related Pages: Still more pages here that have content somewhat related to this one
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2015_VA_CWT_Pamplin_150603: CWT Annual Conference (2015) in Richmond, VA -- Pamplin Historical Park tour (80 photos from 2015)
2003_VA_CWPT_Pamplin_030424: CWPT Annual Conference (2003) in Richmond, VA -- Dinner: Pamplin Historical Park (37 photos from 2003)
Same Subject: Click on this link to see coverage of items having the same subject:
[Civil War][Park (Local)]
2003 photos: Equipment this year: I decided my Epson digital camera wasn't quite enough for what I wanted. Since I already had Compact Flash chips for it, I had to find another camera which used CF chips. That brought me to buy the Fujifilm S602 Zoom in March 2003. A great digital camera, I used it exclusively for an entire year.
Trips this year: Three-week trip this year out west, mostly in Utah.
Number of photos taken this year: 68,000.
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