Confederate Dimmock Battery 5 Captured and Reconfigured as Union Battery IV
LC613000. Dimmock Line. Original configuration of Confederate Battery 5, captured by Union forces on June 15, 1864. Plan drawn by Engineer Department, Army of the Potomac. The guns faced north and east. The Federals enclosed the rear of the battery and aimed their guns toward Petersburg and targets north of the Appomattox River.
Confederate Dimmock Line Battery 5 (later Union Battery IV) is at the upper right hand corner, adjacent to the City Point Railroad. Enlarge the image in the frame below. This overlay of Michler NARA G204-38 map on LiDAR was created by Phil Shiman. Please give him and the Petersburg Project credit.
LC32434. "Outer line of Confederate fortifications, in front of Petersburg, Va. captured by 18th Army Corps, June 15, 1864," photo by Brady, showing field guns in captured Confederate Battery 5. According to Frassanito in Grant and Lee (pg. 234), Brady's crew captured three images on June 20, 1864.
LC32434 detail. Interesting details from the above photo. Mathew Brady posed in left foreground. Officer steadies his telescope on the shoulder of an aide. Soldier seated on a wheelbarrow on right. Gun crew at station.
LC01552. "Petersburg, Virginia. Captain Andrew Cow[a]n's 1st New York Independent Battery Light Artillery within Confederate works on the Petersburg line," photo by Brady. Mathew Brady standing at right edge of image.
LC32424. "Outer line of Confederate fortifications, in front of Petersburg, Va., captured by 18th Army Corps, June 15, 1864," photograph by Brady. Mathew Brady is posed center right .
Dimmock Battery No. 5 today, looking north, original Confederate configuration on the right, later Federal improvements on the left. Photo by D. Lowe, June 2021.
LC32401. [Cowan's independent battery, 1st N.Y., inside one of the rebel forts in front of Petersburg, 24th June 1864]," photographic print of image by Timothy O'Sullivan, showing Federal field guns in position in captured Confederate Battery 5. O'Sullivan and Brady were on site at the same time. O'Sullivan was working for Gardner at the time.
LC32402. "[Interior view of Rebel fort in front of Petersburg works, manned by Cowan's Independent battery, 1st N.Y., 24th June, 1864]," print of image by Timothy O'Sullivan, showing Federal field guns in position. Gun platform from original Confederate battery in foreground.
New-York Historical Society, "Cowan's Independent Battery, 1st N.Y., inside one of the rebel forts in front of Petersburg, 24th June, 1864." Left half of stereo view by Timothy O'Sullivan. Field guns still in place.
LC32444. "Petersburg, Va., battery on outer line Confederate entrenchment capt. June 15, [1864]," unattributed photo, showing two Federal 30-pounder Parrott rifles in place.
Medford Historical Society Civil War Photograph Collection. "Untitled." Unattributed photo showing three Federal 30-pounder Parrott rifles in position in captured Battery 5. Trail of leftmost gun is buried to increase elevation for firing upon Petersburg. The recoil must have been impressive.
Execution of Johnson at Jordan's Farm
June 19-20 [1864]. …On the 20th, a scaffold was erected by the Battalion, in plain view of the enemy, and a negro hanged on it, after due trial. Private Perkins, of Company B, pulled the fall.
--Gilbert Thompson, “The Engineer Battalion in the Civil War: A Contribution to the History of the United States Engineers”. Number 44, Occasional Papers, Engineer School, U.S. Army. Press of the Engineer School 1910:71.
--Gilbert Thompson, “The Engineer Battalion in the Civil War: A Contribution to the History of the United States Engineers”. Number 44, Occasional Papers, Engineer School, U.S. Army. Press of the Engineer School 1910:71.
"William Johnson's execution at Jordan's Farm., June 20, 1864." Albumen print in a private collection, sold on Cowan in 2015.This is an important piece in locating the site of the scaffold. US Battery 4/ CS Battery 5 is at the right edge of the image, lost in the haze. The tree next to the gallows is visible in photos taken inside the fort.
"Execution of a Negro in Front of Petersburg" MOLLUS Collection No. 1413. Another print of the same photo, showing the wall of Battery 5 on the far right. The plume of "smoke" is a flaw in the emulsion.
Detail from above photo. Parapet of Battery 5 on right.
LC 01227 The execution of William Johnson, Jordan's farm. Timothy O'Sullivan, June 20, 1864. Brady & Co.
Detail from NARA 524748a.
