Landscape Information
This unit of Petersburg National Battlefield commemorates City Point (now Hopewell), notable for its role as a significant Civil War supply depot and as General Grant’s headquarters during the siege of Petersburg (1864-1865). A small port town settled in 1613 at the confluence of the Appomattox and James Rivers, City Point’s strategic setting during the war resulted in the rapid transformation of the small town into eight acres of wharves and warehouses, a large field hospital complex comprising four military and three civilian hospitals, and a railroad network between the wharves and front line that supported more than 100,000 soldiers. Grant’s City Point headquarters were based at Appomattox Plantation, situated on a bluff overlooking the rivers. From tents on the east lawn, replaced in the winter with cabins, Grant and his officers coordinated the Union campaign. President Lincoln visited City Point twice during the siege to meet with his top military officers, and tour the Depot Field Hospital, the largest of the four military hospitals.
Today this twenty-acre national park comprises the remains of Appomattox Plantation and retains components present during the Civil War. These include the Gothic Revival manor house and associated outbuildings, the gravel entrance road and turn around, stone paths, expansive views and lawns, and remnants of the once-abundant ornamental plantings. Extant Civil War features comprise earthwork remains, a fireplace foundation from an officer’s cabin, and Grant’s wooden cabin. The property was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1966 as a component of the 2,656-acre Petersburg National Battlefield, and is a contributing resource in the City Point Historic District, designated in 1979.
