Confederate Battery 8 at Petersburg National Battlefield

EASTERN FRONT DRIVING TOUR

STOP 2:  CONFEDERATE BATTERY 8

The second stop on the Eastern Front Driving Tour at Petersburg National Battlefield is location of the former Confederate Battery 8. Like Battery 5, the first stop on the tour, this battery was overrun by Union troops when fighting broke out on the evening of June 15, 1864, the first day of the Battle of Petersburg. The battery was captured by the 1st and 22nd U. S. Colored Troops.

All of the captured Confederate batteries were subsequently manned by Union troops for the duration of the fighting at Petersburg, though many were demolished and replaced by more substantial forts. What you see today is actually the remnants of a redan built by Union soldiers in late June. It was named Fort Friend after a nearby home owned by Nathaniel Friend. A redan is a triangular shaped fort with its point sticking out into the area of battle. The triangular shape allows occupying troops to fire into the flanks (far left and right sides) of an oncoming army.

Union soldiers who occupied the batteries and forts typically had little to do other than sending a cannonball into Petersburg every now and then. The only time Fort Friend saw any action was when the Confederates tried to break out with a massive attack at the nearby Fort Stedman on March 25, 1865. The attempt was a failure, and it prompted General Robert E. Lee to evacuate Petersburg on April 2nd and flee towards Appomattox in hopes of joining with General Joseph E. Johnston’s men in North Carolina. After unsuccessful fighting in that area, Lee surrendered to Union general Ulysses S. Grant on April 9th.

Unlike the Confederate Battery 5 tour stop, Confederate Battery 8 is located a short walk from the parking area and does not have a trail that circles around it. Only a cannon and a wayside exhibit are on display here. A visit takes 5 minutes.