Confederate Battery 5 at the Eastern Front unit of Petersburg National Battlefield

EASTERN FRONT DRIVING TOUR

STOP 1:  CONFEDERATE BATTERY 5

Allow up to 45 minutes for a visit

The first stop on the Eastern Front Driving Tour at Petersburg National Battlefield is Confederate Battery 5. It is accessed via a paved walking path that begins behind the Eastern Front Visitor Center, and once at the battery you have the opportunity to take a short loop trail around the area. Total distance to and from the Visitor Center on the loop trail is three quarters of a mile. Plan to spend around 45 minutes at this stop if you walk the trail. If you just walk down to the battery and back, you can be done in 15 minutes.

Battery 5 was one of approximately 55 Confederate earthen forts and artillery batteries that surrounded Petersburg. All of these were constructed a year or more before the June 15, 1864, Union attack on the city. Battery 5 was located on the eastern side of Petersburg along the Confederate line of defense known as the Dimmock Line. The line formed a semicircle around Petersburg to the south and was anchored on the east and west sides by the Appomattox River, which formed a natural barrier to the north.

Defensive line around Petersburg

When the Battle of Petersburg first began around 7 PM on June 15, 1864, the first shots were fired in this area. The Confederate line was stretched thin—only 2,300 men on the entire line—so the Union’s Eighteenth Corps, which outnumbered the Confederates 6 to 1, had little trouble capturing Battery 5 along with neighboring batteries and 1.5 miles of Confederate defensive trenches that spanned the gaps between them. However, the Union attack was halted at dark and did not commence again for 24 hours, which allowed plenty of time for Confederate reinforcements to arrive. This incompetent delay ultimately allowed the Confederates to hold off the Union army during the four-day Battle of Petersburg.

Battle map of fighting near the Confederate Battery 5 at Petersburg National Battlefield

The failure to take Petersburg caused Union general Ulysses S. Grant to change his strategy. Instead of a bloody frontal attack against Confederate fortifications, he decided to cut off Petersburg’s supply lines from the south and west, which effectively cut off supplies to the Confederate capital of Richmond as well. To do so, the Union army gradually worked its way west, south of the city, capturing major roads and railroads along the way. The campaign, which lasted nine months, was called the Siege of Petersburg.

Battery 5 is a .1-mile walk from the Visitor Center. On the way, you will see a gravel trail that branches off the paved path to the left. This is where you’ll come out if you hike the loop trail starting at the battery entrance. For now, continue directly to the battery. 

Walking path to Confederate Battery 5 at Petersburg National Battlefield

The paved path forks at the entrance to Battery 5, with a right being the loop trail. Keep straight to enter the battery through what is known as the sally port. The sally port is usually at the back of a fort and faces in the direction from where the enemy is least likely to approach.

Entrance to Confederate Battery 5 at Petersburg National Battlefield

What appear as small hills that surround the battery today were once much taller earthen walls that were fortified on the inside with materials such as logs, planks, rocks, and sand bags. The walls have been whittled down by 260+ years of erosion.

Remnants of the earthen walls of Confederate Battery 5 (Petersburg National Battlefield)

Five cannon are on display inside the battery. I’m not sure about the provenance of these guns, but at most Civil War battlefields, the cannon are authentic to the time but are rarely the guns that were at the fort during the time of the battle. In some cases they are fiberglass reproductions, so if you rap on a barrel and it doesn’t sound like metal, you know why.

Cannon inside Confederate Battery 5 at Petersburg National Battlefield

If you want to walk the loop trail, when done exploring the battery, take the paved path into the forest. The trail heads down into a ravine, and the terrain is quite steep. The wayside exhibit at the start of the loop mentions that the grade averages 10%, which is moderate in difficulty. Those in wheelchairs may need a little help getting up and down the hills, but it can be done.

Hilly terrain of the walking trail around Confederate Battery 5 at Petersburg National Battlefield

Two tenths of a mile down the path is Battery 5’s powder magazine and a 13-inch mortar similar to the one used by the Union army during the Siege of Petersburg (Union soldiers occupied the batteries captured from the Confederates for the duration of the siege). The mortar they installed here was nicknamed The Dictator. This gun could lob a 225-pound cannonball up to two miles. Union gunners sent 218 shells into the city of Petersburg during the nine months of fighting.

Powder magazine at Confederate Battery 5, Petersburg National Battlefield

13-inch mortar similar to the one used by the Union army during the Siege of Petersburg

13-inch mortar similar to the one used by the Union army during the Siege of Petersburg

For those in wheelchairs or who have trouble walking, turn around here and head back to the Visitor Center, for there are no more exhibits and the paved path dead ends into a dirt trail just up ahead. To continue around the loop, take a left at the intersection (the route to the right is blocked). The trail follows along the same railroad tracks that carried trains to and from Petersburg during the Civil War. The trail is wide and the terrain is level, and if the weather is nice, it is an enjoyable walk.

Loop trail around Confederate Battery 5 at Petersburg National Battlefield runs alongside railroad tracks

There is one more steep hill to climb, and this begins the moment the trail veers from the tracks and continues all the way until it dead ends at the paved walking path from the Visitor Center. Once back at the paved path, take a right to return to the parking lot.

Stop 2: Confederate Battery 8 | Eastern Front Tour Home Page

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