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Blandford Church

1736 establishments in Virginia18th-century Episcopal church buildingsBuildings and structures in Petersburg, VirginiaChurches completed in 1736Confederate States of America monuments and memorials in Virginia
Episcopal churches in VirginiaFormer churches in VirginiaHistory museums in VirginiaLost Cause of the ConfederacyMuseums in Petersburg, VirginiaNational Register of Historic Places in Petersburg, VirginiaStained glass windowsTiffany Studios
BlandfordChurchPetersburg
BlandfordChurchPetersburg

The Blandford Church is the oldest building in Petersburg, Virginia whose history is well documented. It is at the highest point in the city, atop Well's Hill. It is today (2019) part of a memorial to Southern soldiers who died during the Civil War. It is adjacent to Blandford Cemetery, one of the oldest, largest and historically significant cemeteries in Virginia. The Blandford Cemetery did not exist until after the church building had been abandoned, in the early 1800s, and the land purchased by the city to use as a cemetery. The Blandford Church, also known as St. Paul's Church or simply "The Brick Church", was erected in 1736 on Well's Hill, the highest point in Petersburg. In 1781, during the American Revolution, the Battle of Blandford, also known as the Battle of Petersburg, was fought nearby. Following the battle Major General William Phillips was ordered back to Petersburg to meet Lord Cornwallis who was moving north From Wilmington, North Carolina. While in Petersburg awaiting the arrival of Cornwallis, Phillips fell ill and died on 13 May 1781. He was secretly buried somewhere in the churchyard. The church building was abandoned in 1806 after the construction of another Episcopal church in Petersburg when the Town of Blandford in Prince George County was absorbed by Petersburg. It became "an ivy-clad picturesque shell."During the Civil War the church served as a major telegraph station. It was used as a field hospital, most notably after the Battle of the Crater on July 30, 1864. Necessary repairs for its preservation were made by the City of Petersburg in 1882. A Ladies' Memorial Association of Petersburg was founded in 1866 and took on preserving the former church as a memorial to the large number of Confederate soldiers buried in the adjacent cemetery. (Some 30,000 were buried unidentified in mass graves.) It is one of the oldest non-religious women's organizations in the country. Between 1889 and 1905, the Ladies Memorial Association paid for a pulpit and 34 pews. The windows were restored temporarilily with clear glass. The Ladies Memorial Association requested from the eleven Confederate states, plus the slave states of Maryland and Missouri, funds to commission stained-glass windows. (Only Kentucky declined.) Between 1904 and 1912, windows were created and installed by Louis Comfort Tiffany. Each of the large windows contains the image of a Saint, and symbols associated with that Saint. In addition to the thirteen state windows, Tiffany donated one, as did the Ladies Memorial Association. The stained glass half-round window over the church door contains the name Ladies Memorial Association of Petersburgh, VA, the dates 1866–1909, and in the center, the only Confederate flag Tiffany is known to have made, together with the dates 1861—1865. As the city's Web site puts it, it is a shrine to its 'Lost Cause.'"

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Blandford Church (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Blandford Church
South Crater Road, Petersburg

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N 37.225833333333 ° E -77.387777777778 °
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Blandford United Methodist Church

South Crater Road
23804 Petersburg
Virginia, United States
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Siege of Petersburg
Siege of Petersburg

The Richmond–Petersburg campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865, during the American Civil War. Although it is more popularly known as the siege of Petersburg, it was not a classic military siege, in which a city is encircled with fortifications blocking all routes of ingress and egress, nor was it strictly limited to actions against Petersburg. The campaign consisted of nine months of trench warfare in which Union forces commanded by Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant assaulted Petersburg unsuccessfully and then constructed trench lines that eventually extended over 30 miles (48 km) from the eastern outskirts of Richmond, Virginia, to around the eastern and southern outskirts of Petersburg. Petersburg was crucial to the supply of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's army and the Confederate capital of Richmond. Numerous raids were conducted and battles fought in attempts to cut off the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad. Many of these battles caused the lengthening of the trench lines. Lee finally gave in to the pressure and abandoned both cities in April 1865, leading to his retreat and surrender at Appomattox Court House. The siege of Petersburg foreshadowed the trench warfare that would be seen fifty years later in World War I, earning it a prominent position in military history. It also featured the war's largest concentration of African-American troops, who suffered heavy casualties at such engagements as the Battle of the Crater and Chaffin's Farm.

Battle of the Crater
Battle of the Crater

The Battle of the Crater was a battle of the American Civil War, part of the Siege of Petersburg. It took place on Saturday, July 30, 1864, between the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by General Robert E. Lee, and the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Major General George G. Meade (under the direct supervision of the general-in-chief, Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant). After weeks of preparation, on July 30 Union forces exploded a mine in Major General Ambrose E. Burnside's IX Corps sector, blowing a gap in the Confederate defenses of Petersburg, Virginia. Instead of being a decisive advantage to the Union, this precipitated a rapid deterioration in the Union position. Unit after unit charged into and around the crater, where most of the soldiers milled in confusion in the bottom of the crater. Grant considered this failed assault as "the saddest affair I have witnessed in this war."The Confederates quickly recovered, and launched several counterattacks led by Brigadier General William Mahone. The breach was sealed off, and the Union forces were repulsed with severe casualties, while Brigadier General Edward Ferrero's division of black soldiers was badly mauled. It may have been Grant's best chance to end the siege of Petersburg; instead, the soldiers settled in for another eight months of trench warfare. Burnside was relieved of command for the final time for his role in the fiasco, and he was never again returned to command. Furthermore, Ferrero and General James H. Ledlie were observed behind the lines in a bunker, drinking liquor throughout the battle. Ledlie was criticized by a court of inquiry into his conduct that September, and in December he was effectively dismissed from the Army by Meade on orders from Grant, formally resigning his commission on January 23, 1865.

Poplar Lawn Historic District
Poplar Lawn Historic District

Poplar Lawn Historic District is a national historic district located at Petersburg, Virginia. The district is named after Petersburg's central park (about two city blocks square) which was often a military parade ground in the early 19th century, but became a tent-based detention center and hospital during the American Civil war and later became the site of civic celebrations, including possibly the first Memorial Day, on June 9, 1865. The district also includes 372 contributing buildings, mostly mid- to late-19th-century, single-family residences for middle and upper-middle-class families, some constructed of brick, others weatherboard frame, and later subdivided. Residential architectural styles include Greek Revival, Colonial Revival, Second Empire, and Italianate. Notable buildings include the Bolling-Zimmer House (c. 1830), St. Stephen's Church (c. 1912), Zion Baptist Church (c. 1880s), William T. Double House (c. 1855), the Waterworks (1856), Dr. Robert Broadnax House (1858), Market Street Methodist Church Parsonage (c. 1905), Maurice Finn House (c. 1904), and the Frank M. D'Alton Double House (c. 1911).Poplar Lawn Park features a stone basin of uncertain age that is five feet across, and with an oval-shaped depression a foot wide and a foot deep. It is traditionally known as "Pocahontas' bath", though there is no proof she ever used it. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, with a boundary increase in 2006.