• Poplar Grove National Cemetery Luminary Event (photo courtesy of Joanne Williams)

    Petersburg

    National Battlefield Virginia

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Soldier Life

Welcome New Recruits!

Have you ever wondered what it was like to walk in a Civil War soldier's footsteps?

Would you want to be an artillery soldier, a cavalry soldier, an infantry soldier, or an engineer in the war?

Let's take a step into the past and find out what it would have been like to be one of these soldiers who participated in the siege of Petersburg. Soldiers tell you about their experiences in their own words!

Artillery Cavalry Infantry Engineers

If you would like to read more about the words of the soldiers, a bibliography will indicate the sources of their words.

Did You Know?

Brig. General Frederick Winthrop

Union Brevet Brigadier General Frederick Winthrop was Massachusetts Bay Colony Governor John Winthrop's sixth great-grandson. Winthrop was mortally wounded at the Battle of Five Forks on April 1, 1865.
(Petersburg National Battlefield)