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Petersburg National BattlefieldIllustration of Union soldiers advancing on Ft. Stedman
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Petersburg National Battlefield
Engineers
 
Earthworks around Petersburg
Library of Congress

One reason the fighting at Petersburg lasted for almost ten months is because of the ten mile fortification system around the city designed by Captain Charles Dimmock, a Confederate engineer, and the laborers who constructed it. The engineers planned and constructed all fortifications, permanent or temporary, and all siege operations. Engineers certainly worked overtime during the siege of Petersburg. If you were an engineer during the Civil War, what would your life have been like? Soldiers tell you in their own words.


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Charles Dimmock, Architect of the Petersburg defense line.  

Did You Know?
From the summer of 1862 until the spring of 1863, Confederate Captain Charles Dimmock appealed to slaveholders to hire their enslaved people, and also hired free black laborers to dig the ten-mile defense line around the City of Petersburg. The defenses became known as the Dimmock Line.

Last Updated: January 06, 2008 at 13:25 EST