Petersburg, Virginia

Petersburg is an independent city located in Virginia. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 33,740. It is located in the Richmond-Petersburg region and is a portion of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The Bureau_of_Economic_Analysis combines the city of Petersburg (along with Colonial Heights) with neighboring Dinwiddie county for statistical purposes.

History

Petersburg is located on the Appomattox River at the fall line, which marks the area where an upland region (continental bedrock) and a coastal plain (coastal alluvia) meet. The fall line is typically prominent where a river crosses it, for there will usually be rapids or waterfalls. Because of these features river boats typically can not travel any further inland, making the location the head of navigation. Because of the need of a port, and ready supply of water power, settlements often developed where a river crosses the fall line.

Related Topics:
Appomattox River - Fall line - Bedrock - Coastal plain - Alluvia - Head of navigation

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The most prominent example of fall line settlement was the establishment of the cities along the eastern coast of the United States where the Appalachian Rise and the coastal plains meet.

Related Topics:
United States - Appalachian Rise

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Petersburg grew from the former Fort Henry, established on the south bank in 1645. The city developed rapidly, and the Virginia General Assembly formally organized it in 1784. The Battle of Petersburg in 1781 was a part of the British attempt to regain control of Virginia.

Related Topics:
1645 - Virginia General Assembly - 1784 - Battle of Petersburg - 1781

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The Port of Petersburg became renowned as a commercial center for transporting and processing cotton, tobacco and metal, produced and shipped from the region. As travel technology developed, Petersburg became established as a railroad center, with links completed to Richmond to the north, Farmville and Lynchburg to the west, and Weldon, North Carolina to the south. The last major line was to the east, when the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad was completed in 1858.

Related Topics:
Cotton - Tobacco - Railroad - Weldon, North Carolina - Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad

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Paved streets began to appear in 1813, soon followed by a canal bypassing the Appomattox falls; railroad lines linking it to all points of the compass came next, gaslights were introduced in 1851, and a new municipal water system was installed by 1857. All these civic improvements helped attract and hold a substantial business community, based on tobacco manufacture, but also including cotton and flour mills and banking.

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Its 1860 population was 18,266, half of which were black, and nearly a third of them were free. Ninety percent of the white half were native Virginians, whose devotion to the cause in 1812 inspired the nickname "Cockade City" in honor of the rosette they wore on their caps. When Civil War came in 1861, Petersburg's men again responded, and they provided the South several infantry companies and artillery units, as well as three troops of cavalry.

Related Topics:
1860 - Civil War

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Petersburg Came of importance to the American Civil War during the Overland Campaign of Union General Ulysses S. Grant. After the battle of Cold Harbor, Grant headed south, bypassing Richmond to Ptersburg. Grant decided to cut off the rail lines into Petersburg. Petersburg was the lifeline to Richmond, which was the Capital of the Confederacy. On June 9th, troops under William F. "Baldy" Smith, of the 9th Corps, attacked the Dimmock Line. The Dimmock Line was a set of defensive Breastworks erected in 1861 and 1862 to Protect Petersburg against the Army of the Potomac under George McClellan during the Peninsular Campaign. The Confeterate troops at this time numbered around 2000. The lines could have easily been taken, but with the fresh memory of Cold Harbor still fresh, Generals Smith and Handcock were reticent to atack a fortified line. P.G.T.Beauregard, General commanding the troops at this time, alerted Lee that he was facing the Army of the Potomac at Petersburg. Lee later arrived, and the 292 day siege of Petersburg began.

Related Topics:
American Civil War - Overland Campaign - Union General Ulysses S. Grant - Cold Harbor - Richmond - Dimmock Line - Breastworks - Army of the Potomac - George McClellan - Peninsular Campaign - P.G.T.Beauregard

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On the Eastern Front, the trench lines were very close together. One soldier in the 48th Pennsylvania, a coal miner in his civillian life remarked aloud "We could blow that battery into oblivion if we could dig a mine underneath it. Colonel Henry Pleasants, Division Commander, took this idea seriously and moved it up the chain of command. The plan was given the go ahead. On August 9th, the mine was exploded. Due to poor Union leadership and the timely arrival of Confederate General William Mahone, the Union lost the Battle of the Crater and upwards fo 4000 men. Siege of Petersburg preceded Confederate General Robert E. Lee's surrender and the end of the war. Confederate General Ambrose P. (A.P.) Hill died on the last day the Confederates occupied the Petersburg trenches. The extended network of entrenchments established a precedence in warfare that would be seen in World War I. The Petersburg Area (Ettrick, VA to be exact) is also home to Virginia State University, one of the first fully state-supported four-year institution of higher learning for black Americans.

Related Topics:
Confederate General William Mahone - Battle of the Crater - Siege of Petersburg - Confederate General Robert E. Lee's - Confederate General Ambrose P. (A.P.) Hill - World War I - Virginia State University

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