Joseph C. Boswell Farm on Church Road -- Battle of Pegram's Farm
Dinwiddie County resident Joseph C. Boswell managed a farm of a hundred acres hat abutted several prominent properties, including those of the Pegram, Peebles, and Boisseau families. Census records show that at the time of the war, Joseph, his wife Martha, their three children -- Mary, Martha, and Joseph Boswell, Jr.-- and six slaves lived on the property. Joseph was considered a "yeoman" farmer of modest means. Some of Boswell's lands west of Church Road are preserved in the Pamplin Historical Park. The house site and some associated earthworks east of Church Road currently survive on the Hofheimer property to which there is no public access.
J.C. Boswell House from Historic Dinwiddie County or the Last Long Camp,. A travel brochure.courtesy of Petersburg National Battlefield. \ View is looking east from Church Road
Boswell House stood north of what eventually became Fort Fisher in the Federal line of 1864. Union soldiers dug in in front of the farm lane (on right of the photo), which became the picket line for four months. The house was incorporated into the picket line and served as a strong point and observation post.
- On September 30, 1864, two divisions of Maj. Gen. John G. Parke's Ninth Army Corps advanced north on Squirrel Level Road, drove back Confederate skirmishers and captured a six-sided redoubt called Fort Archer (later incorporated into Union lines as Fort Wheaton). After initial success, Parke reorganized his divisions on the Jones and Boswell farms and prepared to attack the main line of Confederate works toward the Pegram farm.
- A Confederate counterattack lad by Maj. Gen, Henry Heth routed portions of the Ninth Corps andUnion troops fell back from the Pegram farm to more defensible positions anchored near the Boswell and Peebles farms. During the night, Heth's soldiers entrenched a line from Arthur's Swamp to Church Road across the high ground where Fort Fisher was later built. A few hundred yards of this line survive.
- Two divisions of Fifth Army Corps supported Parke's line on the right, morning of Cotober 1.
- On October 2, reinforced by a Maj. Gen. Gershom Mott's division of Second Corps on his left flank, Parke attacked and reclaimed the ground occupied previously. Confederate Fort McRae fell to the west, widening the penetration of the Squirrel Level Road Line.
- By the end of battle, October 2, the Union army had established a line of entrenchments, anchored on Fort Fisher and the "Fish Hook" line that extended back to the Weldon Railroad. The fighting on and near Peebles’s Farm resulted in about 2,950 Federal casualties and 1,239 Confederate.
- The Federal offensive successfully extended the siege lines further west reaching toward the Boydton Plank Road. This ended Grant’s fifth offensive against Petersburg.
Detail from the 8" = 1 mi. Michler map series. LC g204-35. The Boswell House no longer stands as the property was incorporated into a massive steel recycling facility.
Map of opening events of the battle of Pegram's Farm, courtesy of the American Battlefield Trust.
updated 04/15/2026
