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Grant's Headquarters
Setting Up Camp
General Grant's initial military strategy did
not include a siege on Petersburg. Rather, he
wanted to force Lee's troops out into the open
where the Union troops could outfight the Confederate
Army. This plan was not working as Grant had
intended and ultimately, Grant shifted his focus
and proceeded with a siege of Petersburg, Virginia.
Grant established his headquarters seven miles
behind the lines at City Point. As the siege
evolved, Grant started to stretch his lines
to the south and west of Petersburg, with the
intention of cutting all railroad lines that
led into Petersburg. These five railroad lines
were how General Lee's troops received supplies.
During
the summer and fall of 1864, General Grant and
members of his staff lived in tents situated
on the grounds of a Virginia plantation. But
as the war dragged on and the weather turned
colder, the tents were taken down and replaced
with 22 log cabins. The cabins were small and
rustic, designed simply to protect the men from
nature's elements. General Grant himself occupied
a two-room cabin near the center of all the
structures. He used the front room as his office
and the back room as his private quarters. In
December 1864, he brought his wife, Julia, and
son, Jesse, to City Point to join him in his
crowded quarters.
Even
for the General, the cabin was sparse with little
furniture and conveniences of the time. One
of General Grant's staff described the cabin
like this: "General Grant's hut was as plain
as the others, and was constructed with a sitting-room
in front, and a small apartment used as a bedroom
in the rear, with a communicating door between
them. An iron camp bed, an iron washstand, a
couple of pine tables, and a few common wood
chairs constituted the furniture. The floor
was entirely bare." ("Historic Furnishings Report"
Petersburg National Battlefield.)
Learn
more about Grant's Headuarters at City Point,
VA:
Setting
Up Camp
President Lincoln Comes to
City Point
The Meeting That Changed
the Course of History
A Vision For Peace
Lincoln Waits For the War's
End
A Deadly Premonition
The Siege of Petersburg
Lincoln's Plans For Reunification
Lincoln's Dream Comes to
Life
Preserving Grant's Cabin
Visiting Grant's Headquarters
at City Point, Petersburg National Battlefield,
Hopewell, VA
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