BGuthrie Photos: VA -- Petersburg -- Pamplin Historical Park -- Battlefield Center Museum

VA -- Petersburg -- Pamplin Historical Park -- Battlefield Center Museum:

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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:
1. PAMPBC_150603_009.JPG: The Military Landscape Pamplin Historical Park Did you know the end of the American Civil War started here? On the morning of April 2, 1865 you would have been standing near the center of the battle that decided the nine-month campaign for Petersburg and Richmond. In the pre-dawn darkness of that spring morning, 14,000 Union soldiers attacked the Confederate defenses that still survive in the woods before you. After examining the recreated fortifications ahead, continue your tour at the Battlefield Center. This museum contains exhibits and presentations that provide the background to the pivotal events of April 2, 1865. Then visit the Military Encampment and experience elements of a soldier's life as demonstrated by costumed historians. Finally, explore the Breakthrough Trail, which winds across the historic landscape where the battle occurred.
2. PAMPBC_150603_015.JPG: Field Fortifications The Military Encampment -- Pamplin Historical Park -- Pamplin Historical Park has created these replica earthworks to suggest how this area might have looked during the winter of 1864-65. Both armies at Petersburg constructed long lines of field fortifications. Engineer officers used standard manuals in designing and constructing the earthworks. Civil War earthworks basically consisted of a parapet and a ditch. The parapet was a dirt embankment raised high enough to provide the soldiers protection from enemy cannon and rifle fire. Most of the dirt for the parapet came from the ditch, which also served as an obstacle to an attack. A row of logs or boards formed the "revetment," which held the dirt of the parapet in place as it was thrown up from the ditch. A firing step, or "banquette," stood at the base of the revetment. Soldiers would step up onto the banquette and fire their weapons over the top of the parapet, which was known as the "superior slope." Artillery positions were located at intervals along the lines. These positions usually projected out from the main line so that the cannon in them could fire along the front of the fortifications and to either side. This "enfilade" fire increased the defensive strength of the earthworks. Depending upon their shape, they were referred to as redans, redoubts, or lunettes. Openings known as "embrasures" were cut into the parapets to allow the cannon to fire without unnecessarily exposing their crews to enemy fire. Embrasures could be lined with a number of items to give them strength, but the Confederates generally used sandbags. Because cannon placed in field works had to fire repeatedly from the same spot, engineers constructed wooden platforms to support the weight of the guns and to prevent them from sinking into soft soil and cutting ruts as they recoiled.
3. PAMPBC_150603_031.JPG: Obstructions The Military Encampment -- Pamplin Historical Park -- Obstructions, like the reproductions displayed here, played an important role in Civil War field fortifications. These obstacles broke the forward momentum of assaulting troops and maximized and attacker's exposure to the defenders' fire. Soldiers, under the direction of engineer officers, first cleared the land in front of their earthworks to create fields of fire. Leaving the stumps, they sometimes added wire to trip enemy soldiers as they tried to advance. The carefully arranged tangle of large limbs and trees with their branches pointed toward the enemy is known as abates, a French term like so many borrowed by American armies in the nineteenth century. In 1865, three or four lines of abates lay in front of the earthworks at what is not Pamplin Historic Park. Directly in front of the ditch, engineers placed a line of pointed inclined logs called fraise. Though attacking soldiers could squeeze through the gaps in the fraise, they served to discourage the use of ladders and planks to cross the ditch and succeeded in disrupting enemy formations. Chevaux-de-frise consisted of a ten-foot long log with sharpened stakes, known as lances, driven through to present a series of X-shaped spikes toward the enemy. Chains and hooks attached several of these obstacles together to block roads and other interruptions between earthworks. "While we were…moving through the obstructions), seven of our…comrades were killed in…one place. It was dark but we were so close to their works that they could shoot us like rabbits." -- Pvt. Lorenzo Barnhart 110th Ohio Volunteers April 2, 1865
4. PAMPBC_150603_068.JPG: Are You One of these Soldiers?
5. PAMPBC_150603_074.JPG: "The Jonah"
6. PAMPBC_150603_080.JPG: "The High-Tempered Man"
7. PAMPBC_150603_082.JPG: "The Unlucky Man"
8. PAMPBC_150603_085.JPG: "The Paper-Collar Young Man"
9. PAMPBC_150603_137.JPG: Field of Honor
10. PAMPBC_150603_142.JPG: Medal of Honor awarded to Sergeant John E. Buffington
11. PAMPBC_150603_149.JPG: Holy Bible, 1847
12. PAMPBC_150603_157.JPG: Medal of Honor by Don Troiani Captain Charles G. Gould, Company H, 5th Vermont Infantry, was mostly likely the first Federal soldier to scale the Confederate works on April 2, 1865. He climbed the parapet at a point just outside of this building. Along amidst a swarm of the enemy, Gould sustained bayonet and sword wounds to his face, skull and back before being dragged to safety. Gould would earn the Medal of Honor for his bravery.
13. PAMPBC_150603_196.JPG: The Petersburg Campaign
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.

The above was from http://www.pamplinpark.org/
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