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Petersburg National Battlefield Period drawing of artillery being fired at siege of Petersbrug
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Petersburg National Battlefield
Henry Heth

Henry Heth

Born in 1825 in Virginia, Henry Heth graduated from West Point in 1847 and served out west until resigning his commission in April 1861. He was promoted to brigadier general in 1862, fought at Chancellorsville and commanded the division that made initial contact with the Union forces at Gettysburg.

As division commander in the Third Corps, Heth participated in much of the fighting around Petersburg including Weldon Railroad, Reams Station, Peebles Farm, Burgess Mill and Hatcher's Run.

At the close of the war he worked in the insurance business and later served the government as a surveyor and in the Office of Indian Affairs. He died in 1899.

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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.
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Last Updated: October 07, 2007 at 16:41 MST