In the Trenches at Petersburg: Field Fortifications and Confederate Defeat

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: November, December, and January

{ 199 } ChaPTer foUrTeen November, December, and January By the time fall arrived, the earthworks on the Richmond-Petersburg lines had been exposed to rain, heat, and cold for five months. Wooden revetments rotted and parapets eroded. The wooden obstructions in front of the line became targets of human predation as cold infantrymen sought new sources of firewood. Newer construction projects, such as the works built to consolidate gains won in the Fifth Offensive, the Dutch Gap Canal, and the City Point works, were pushed to completion. Digging continued underground as the Confederates completed their elaborate system of countermines. The armies prepared for a winter in the trenches, engaging in raids and enduring sporadic but deadly bursts of artillery and small arms fire. federal ConsTrUCTion The Federals made division commanders responsible for appointing an officer to oversee the trenches and forward reports to corps headquarters every week. Division leaders also had permission to contact the army’s chief engineer directly when they needed assistance.1 The reports revealed the same problems all along the lines: parapets were “crumbling down,” abatis was “broken up,” and rainwater was accumulating in many places. Some artillery emplacements had become “very dilapidated” and needed a thorough overhaul. Scarps as well as parapets were falling down at several forts. Covered ways also eroded, demanding attention.2 About ten yards of abatis had been completely removed in front of Fort Clarke, creating a dangerous gap in the obstructions.On other parts of the line, men used the abatis as a refuse pile and threw “brush and other rubbish” on top of it.This weighed down the branches and reduced their effectiveness as an obstruction. Army and corps headquarters ordered the posting of guards who had authority to arrest perpetrators. Similar orders went out to burn huts and other unauthorized structures close to the trench.3 { 200 } November, December, and January It was not easy to find wood for camp needs because five months of military occupation had almost denuded the area around Petersburg. Nor was it easy to find soldiers interested in working on the fortifications. Details from the Second Corps “affected so much ignorance of the use of tools and showed such a want of interest in the work” that Ira Spaulding used his own men to stockade the gorges of several forts. Now that the lines were relatively quiet, the engineers also fitted magazines with stout doors, hinges, and keys to keep ordnance stores safe.The ground became hard with frost as winterapproached, increasing the difficulty of repairing earthen defenses.4 The commander of the 7th Rhode Island sent details two miles behind the line to a depot were each man constructed one gabion as his daily quota. The 50th New York Engineers made 456 gabions and 20 sections of chevaux-defrise in oneweek. Much of this revetting material went to Fort Sedgwick, where several rows of gabions lined the parapet. An order to enclose the rear of all forts which still had open gorges increased the demand for gabions in early December.5 Both north and south of the James River, the Federals completed defenses built on ground they had gained in the Fifth Offensive. The Eighteenth Corps finished the abatis in front of its line by late November, about the time that the Gabion revetment of rear line at Fort Sedgwick. (Library of Congress, lC-dig-CwPB-02591) November, December, and January { 201 } Army of the Potomac finished the line that enclosed Peebles’s Farm. Engineers placed wire entanglements and a full row of abatis in front of the line from Fort Fisher to Fort Welch, slashing timber and laying abatis in front of the picket line as well. To observe the enemy, engineers began a tower 130 feet tall near Fort Conahey, completing half of it by late January.6 CharlesWainwright thought most of the forts along the line from Fort Wadsworth were relatively simple but strong. Fort Keene had been “very roughly revetted by infantry,” according to Ira Spaulding. When members of his 50th New York Engineers stockaded the fort, Spaulding directed them to improve the revetment and raise the height of the parapet.7 Fort Conahey caught everyone’s attention. With “no recognized geometric form that I ever saw,” Wainwright thought it was “complicated enough to make up for all the rest and to afford illustration for a whole course of lectures on engineering.” Half of the fort lay...