The Hare House
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"On the right of the line, was an elegant residence, formerly occupied by Mr. O. P. Hare, a southern sporting gentleman of wealth, who was "not at home" when we arrived. The men, in their customary style of protecting secesh property, procured some very elegant horse-trappings and equipments from his establishment. His house and the adjacent building were completely riddled with shot and shell. His furniture was sadly "demoralized," and soon distributed along the works. Costly stuffed chairs, and sofas of plush and damask, furnished yankee soldiers luxuriant repose; and a fine rosewood piano, which a rebel-shell had "played upon," was made to do duty in a portion of the works we had thrown up across his garden. (Houghton. 17th Maine Regiment 1866:203,204) |
"Battery of mortars and light twelves. Lt. Jackson. 1st Connecticut heavy Arty. 18th Corps." Drawing by Alfred R. Waud. Hare house (or its kitchen/outbuilding) in the right rear. [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.21015]
Hare house site: "The plantation of Richard Bate appears in the 1782 land tax. The sketch of the dwelling indicated projecting end chimneys, a central doorway, and a projecting cellar bulkhead and porch along one long side. ... Otway Hare purchased the plantation in 1837 and resided on the property with his family when the Union Army of the Potomac attacked the Petersburg defenses in June 1864. As the attack progressed, the Hare house fell behind the advancing Union lines. ... The noted Civil War illustrator Alfred Waud drew a pencil sketch of the front of the Hare house in the summer of 1864, a sketch that seems to show the effects of both shelling and pillaging. The Michler map indicates that the house stood just behind the Union siege line, between Fort Stedman and the Prince George Court House Road. The house and adjacent buildings disappeared during the siege, probably shortly after Waud completed his sketch in the summer of 1864. Hare did not reoccupy the plantation, but resided in Petersburg after the war, where he managed a pharmacy that he had owned since 1855." From: An Archaeological Overview and Assessment of the Main Unit, Petersburg National Battlefield, Virginia, National Park Service, 2001.
Maps and regimental accounts make clear there were a number of outbuildings associated with the Hare estate.
On the night of the [June] 21st , the Battery withdrew from this position to go into position at the Hare House on the extreme right, and just south of which Fort Stedman was afterward built. The house was named after the proprietor of the race course. Here the men built breastworks that were only about four hundred yards from the rebel line, and hence we were in uncomfortably close quarters to the enemy. One-second fuses only could be used...... About midway between our line and the enemy's, stood a barn. It had nearly all been taken down to the main floor, and on this floor lay about eighty bushels of corn (Roemer 221).
Maps and regimental accounts make clear there were a number of outbuildings associated with the Hare estate.
On the night of the [June] 21st , the Battery withdrew from this position to go into position at the Hare House on the extreme right, and just south of which Fort Stedman was afterward built. The house was named after the proprietor of the race course. Here the men built breastworks that were only about four hundred yards from the rebel line, and hence we were in uncomfortably close quarters to the enemy. One-second fuses only could be used...... About midway between our line and the enemy's, stood a barn. It had nearly all been taken down to the main floor, and on this floor lay about eighty bushels of corn (Roemer 221).
"Hare House, Petersburg, June 1864" drawing by Alfred R. Waud, LC Waud, no. 909 verso (21606). Roughed in sketch for the finished drawing below.
Trenches before Petersburg, Va., June 20th, 1864
…I have two regiments of sharpshooters at work to keep them [the Confederates] down. From the cellar to the garret of the Hare House they are firing at the enemy. The reason the enemy can’t shell the house is because these men keep them from loading their guns. Also we have our guns and mortars to play on them....
Civil War Letters of General Robert McAllister, edited by James I. Robertson, Jr., Louisiana State University Press, 1998, p 447.
"Trenches, Petersburg." Rough sketch of Hare House (or its kitchen/outbuilding) and batteries by A. R. Waud [ http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.20454]
This Federal map from early in the siege depicts multiple buildings at the Otway Hare estate. NARA RG 77.
