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Civil War Tour: City Point and Five Forks

June 2015

Perhaps the quartermaster training is at Fort Lee because of the proximity of City Point.  This small port was the home of a local farmer and slave owner.  He had left to help the Confederate army, and his wife took the children and a few slaves to Petersburg for safety.  The Union forces captured the point, and used it to supply the troops.  The dock and facilities were greatly expanded. 

The farm house was used as the headquarters.

Large white farmhouse at City Point with broad porch, red roof, and bright blue sky overhead

Wide view across the river at City Point with grassy bank in the foreground and a bridge in the distance

The primary kitchen for the house is in a separate building.  Also in this building was the laundry area.  They had an interesting write-up describing how valuable a good laundress was.

Small separate kitchen and laundry building at City Point with 2 doors, pale siding, and a red roof

Interior of the detached kitchen building with a large brick hearth and period cooking tools

Next to the farm building headquarters were built 22 small cabins that were used as housing.  The one Grant used while there is the only one now there.  In the picture you can also see the lovely Crepe Myrtle trees that were in bloom during our visit. 

View across the lawn at City Point toward the farmhouse, with a shed and blooming crepe myrtle in the foreground

Decorative cast-iron boot scraper mounted beside the wooden porch step of the detached building

Visitors can walk down to the water.

Great blue heron standing in shallow water, framed between tree trunks along the shore at City Point

Great blue heron standing alone in shallow water at City Point

On the other side of Petersburg is Five Forks.  The visitor center there had some hardtack on display.

Plate of hardtack displayed on a wooden table inside the Five Forks visitor center exhibit

We had an interesting conversation with the ranger at this center.  His ancestors were slaves.  He pointed out that conditions immediately after emancipation were bad for blacks in the South.  Before they had economic value, but once freed they did not so they were often killed by upset whiltes.  The Five Forks area consisted mostly of a few signs at key points, such as the Five Forks intersection itself.

Battle of Five Forks monument standing in a grassy clearing

Cannon and interpretive signs at the Five Forks intersection battlefield site

Open field at Five Forks beneath a dramatic sky with sweeping white clouds

The Confederate forces were trying to hold Five Forks to protect the rail line to Petersburg.  Once they lost this, any hope that they could hold out in Petersburg was gone.  Lee and his forces retreated, aiming to meet up with other Confederate forces.  Grant's forces outran them, and the two armies met again in Appomattox. 

Now, finally, to the . 

Updated April 2026