Petersburg

Petersburg

Richard J. LeFevre (1931 - 2000)

1991

watercolor and mixed media on paper

The Third Battle of Petersburg, fought at the end of the Siege of Petersburg, Virginia, was essentially the culmination of ten months of trench warfare from June 9, 1864, to April 1, 1865, as General Ulysses S. Grant tried to take Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy. Grant eventually built 30 miles of trenches around the eastern portion of Richmond to the eastern and southern portions of its sister city—and supplier of goods by rail—Petersburg. Throughout this period, General Grant continuously extended his lines in an effort to cut off supplies to the city and to General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. Grant finally succeeded in this effort, and Lee was forced to abandon both cities in April 1865. Shown in the center of the painting is the skyline of Petersburg as it looked at the time. The lower portion of the painting shows the Confederate dead lying in trenches. The lines in the middle that resemble a fence are a defensive mechanism used to repel attackers. Shown at the extreme right is an example of a mortar called “the dictator” which was used at Petersburg by the Union Army.

Bequest of the Artist