Year 2 - Day 10 Glen Allen VA to Petersburg VA

 

Today promises to be a short and relatively flat day. We modified the route this morning to include a biking tour of the Petersburg Civil War Battlefield. As we worked our way into Richmond the route put us on Monument Ave. The first statue we encountered was General A. P. Hill. 

Monument Ave. took us right into the heart of Richmond. I was very surprised at the lack of traffic in Richmond, especially for a Thursday morning. We went by Virginia Commonwealth University and the Virginia State Capital. 

A right turn at the Capital took us to the waterfront along the James River. We came upon the American Civil War Museum located in the former Tredegar Iron Works. I enjoyed seeing that much of the former building has been preserved, at least for show. The most highlighted feature that has been preserved is the water wheel. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this wheel in operation, at least if it is only for show. 

Leaving the iron works, we climbed up to the bridge and crossed the James River. We must have made a mistake as we crossed on a road bridge and not the pedestrian bridge. The pedestrian bridge would have routed us to the trail along the river, but instead we ended up on the road above the trail. This was a good mistake as the road was higher and required less climbing out of the river valley. Below is a photo of the river and downtown Richmond as we departed. 

We ate at a little Italian restaurant on Route 1 in Colonial Heights called Carrini’s Italian Restaurant and Pizza. The food and the service were both good. 

We arrived at the Petersburg Battlefield and began our audio tour, compliments of the National Park Service web site. There is still several fighting Battery’s existing today that were not recovered into farmland by the landowners. Additionally, the Park Service has reconstructed a Battery to what it may have looked like at the time. 

Petersburg is the site of the longest battle during the civil war. The last and final tour stop was the Crater. Apparently, there was a Civil War, Union Army Fighting Company from central PA made up primarily of coal miners. They were tired of the standoff and getting potshots taken at them, so they devised a plan to tunnel under one of the Confederate Battery’s and set off dynamite. They dug a 511-foot tunnel in about one month (June 25 to July 27).  Then they packed it with 8000 pounds of black powder. The fuse was lit, and the explosion went off on July 30, 1864, at 4:44 a.m. The explosion created a 170 by 120 foot wide and 30-foot-deep crater, killing or burying or killing 275 Confederate troops! Below are photos of the reconstructed tunnel entrance as it is thought it would have looked in 1864! The Crater was evident but obscured with grass and reduced in size by erosion and time!

We left the battlefield bound for the hotel. We had made a quick reroute this morning to add the battlefield and as such, had not thoroughly proofed our new route! We were directed to make a left turn and after making two incorrect left turns, we discovered large concrete abutment where we were to make our turn! On the fly rerouting finally brought us to our hotel for the evening!

After today, we will have traveled 650 miles and climbed 23,106 feet in elevation!