Several years ago, I was stationed at Fort Lee, Virginia south of Richmond, Virginia. It was about the same that I was getting interested in studying my genealogy. While studying I discovered how the nearby town of Petersburg fit into my family’s history.
I remember studying one day and uncovering an interesting fact that one of my great uncles, Zachary Daniel, was killed in one of the battles of Petersburg called Battle of Hatcher’s Run. His brother, my great-grandfather (4X), served in the Petersburg Area from Jun. 9, 1864-Apr. 2, 1865, when he then moved north and surrendered with General Lee at Appomattox. Not being the best historian at the time, I enjoyed about a year of emersion into the civil war battle of the area. Over the next two years, I researched enough to where I was actually able to walk on the approximate site of the Hatcher’s Run Battlefield.
During one of my frequent visits there, I picked up this mug at the Petersburg National Battlefield Park Visitors Center. This mug reminds me of that family history. It also reminds me of the quest to discover more stories from my family history to share with the next generation. The side of the mug reads:
“Twenty-Five miles from the Confederate Capital in Richmond, Union forces lay siege to Petersburg to shut off southern supply lines. After nine months, Confederates evacuated the city on April 2, 1865. Six days later, General Lee’s surrender at Appomattox effectively ended the American Civil War.”