other tours are available for the
local battlefields. Of great interest to the
local citizens of Petersburg is the listing compiled by
a Union soldier after the siege of every building
damaged during the bombardment upon the city by the
federal forces.î
He wrote the book gratis as
a gesture in support of the growing partnership between
the Petersburg National Battlefield and Petersburg.
Chris Calkins also wrote the driving tour for
Leeís Retreat Civil War Trail, the multi
jurisdictional marked trail that leads from Petersburg
to Appomattox with stops along the way. That was
the model for the now very successful Civil War Trails
project as well as other heritage trails in the nation.
He has been giving tours of Petersburg and the
National Battlefield for 20 years now, and decided an
automobile tour would share the cityís history
with even more history buffs, or perhaps future
historians.
Those who saw the film Cold
Mountain witnessed Hollywoodís version of the
Battle of the Crater which is one defining moment of
the Siege of Petersburg. That battle and siege
were the beginning of the end for the Confederacy.
What wasnít shown in that film was that
the homes and businesses in Petersburg also saw their
share of damage from stray bullets and enemy as well as
misplaced friendly fire. On the tour you will
actually get to see evidence of the war that ripped our
nation apart. In addition to Petersburg sites,
there are stops in Ettrick in Chesterfield County, as
well as nearby Colonial Heights.
