This weekly series looks at the posts which have appeared over the last 7 days at The Siege of Petersburg Online: Beyond the Crater. It’s a way to show TOCWOC readers what I’ve been doing over at my other Civil War site.
Most of my focus right now, to set the stage for those wholly unfamiliar with my Siege of Petersburg web page, is on the following:
- Reports from the Official Records of Union and Confederate commanders on operations during the Siege of Petersburg from August 1-December 31, 1864, all coming from Volume XLII, Part 1 (Serial Number 87). Volume XL, Part 1 (Serial Number 80) is complete at this time and hope to begin work on Volume XLVI, Part 1 (Serial Number 95) on October 1, 2011. This volume encompasses Petersburg from January 1-April 3, 1865 and the Appomattox Campaign.
- A weekly post on the diary entries of Octave Bruso. Bruso was a member of the 50th New York Engineers and was present throughout the Siege of Petersburg.
- Battle summaries pages which contain links to all of the places on The Siege of Petersburg Online which mention those battles. If you are interested in a specific battle during the Siege of Petersburg and you want to see what is available on the site, go to a specific battle page and scroll to the bottom of the page. You should see all kinds of primary sources, order of battle or unit entries, and other mentions.
- In the background, I’m also working on two items which will pay dividends down the road. First, I’m working on documenting the weapons on hand for each Union regiment on June 30, 1864 from NARA Microfilm M1281, Roll 7. This is a tedious process but one which tells me the types and numbers of small arms carried by almost every Union regiment on hand near Richmond and Petersburg on June 30, 1864. These were quarterly returns, reported on the last day of the quarter, so this specific roll looks at the 2nd and 3rd quarters of 1864 (April-June and July-September). When I finish this roll, I’ll move on to Roll 8, containing ordnance returns from 1865. Later I’ll move on to the artillery and cavalry, each on its own roll. Second, I’ve been patiently going through the regimental histories listed at the Library of Congress site as well as the Civil War Unit Bibliographies at the USAHEC site in order to find as many books, articles, essays, and other items on regiments, batteries, battalions, and companies which fought at Petersburg as possible. Many of these books are freely available at places like Google Books or Archive.org. If you’re interested in a specific unit, check out my Union Units Bibliography and Confederate Units Bibliography spreadsheets.
This week’s posts focused on Official Records entries, Octave Bruso’s diary entries, newspaper entries transcribed by Bryce Suderow and focusing on the July 27, 1864 fighting at the Battle of first Deep Bottom, and brand new battle summaries pages for all of the major battles fought during the Siege of Petersburg.
Octave Bruso Diary: Week of July 17, 1864 July 17, 2011
Aerial Assault at the Siege of Petersburg? July 18, 2011
Southern Historical Society Papers Now Online at Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University July 18, 2011
Summary Of the Principal Events of the Siege of Petersburg in 1865 and the Appomattox Campaign July 18, 2011
The First Battle of Deep Bottom: July 27-29, 1864 July 18, 2011
The Battle of the Crater: July 30, 1864 July 18, 2011
The Battle of Globe Tavern: August 18-21, 1864 July 18, 2011
The Second Battle of Ream’s Station: August 25, 1864 July 18, 2011
The Battle of Chaffin’s Farm: September 29-30, 1864 July 19, 2011
The Battle of Peebles’ Farm: September 30-October 2, 1864 July 19, 2011
The Battle of Darbytown and New Market Roads: October 7, 1864 July 19, 2011
The Battle of Darbytown Road: October 13, 1864 July 19, 2011
The Battle of Fair Oaks and Darbytown Road: October 27-28, 1864 July 19, 2011
The Battle of Boydton Plank Road: October 27-28, 1864 July 19, 2011
Stony Creek Raid: December 7-12, 1864 July 19, 2011
The Battle of Hatcher’s Run: February 5-7, 1865 July 19, 2011
The Battle of Lewis’s Farm: March 29, 1865 July 19, 2011
The Battle of White Oak Road: March 31, 1865 July 19, 2011
The Battle of Dinwiddie Court House: March 31, 1865 July 19, 2011
The Battle of Five Forks: April 1, 1865 July 19, 2011
The Third Battle of Petersburg: April 2, 1865 July 19, 2011
The Battle of Sutherland’s Station: April 2, 1865 July 19, 2011
Number 312. Petersburg Report of Captain Loomis L. Langdon, Battery M, First U. S. Artillery, of operations August 25 July 22, 2011
Number 313. Petersburg Campaign Report of Lieutenant John R. Myrick, Battery E, Third U. S. Artillery, of operations October 7 July 23, 2011
13th Mississippi Infantry July 23, 2011
17th Mississippi Infantry July 23, 2011
18th Mississippi Infantry July 23, 2011
21st Mississippi Infantry July 23, 2011
If you have any questions or comments about the site, please feel free to leave a comment here or Contact me at Beyond the Crater.
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