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Petersburg National BattlefieldIllustration of Union soldiers advancing on Ft. Stedman
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Petersburg National Battlefield
Portait of a Soldier
 

Students read primary source documents that tell stories of three different soldiers who participated in the siege of Petersburg. Confederate soldiers, Union Soldiers, and the United States Colored Troops who were a part of the Union army. While each of these men fought in the war for different reasons, they were all fighting for a way of life that they felt was just. This lesson explores where these men came from, why they fought, and what they were fighting for at Petersburg.


Pre-Visit Lesson Plan

Post-Visit Lesson Plan
Living History Participants  

Did You Know?
On July 6, 1781, near Jamestown, the Marquise de Lafayette’s small American force fought General Cornwallis’s army at the Battle of Green Spring. Lafayette lost this, Virginia’s largest infantry battle of the war, but saved his army, enabling him to spy on the British army as it moved to Yorktown

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Last Updated: September 18, 2007 at 15:30 EST