Trench Warfare in the American Civil War
Hello, I’m writing a paper on Trench Warfare in the American Civil War and I was wondering if anyone is familiar with any good sources on the subject. I am putting a special focus on the role played by Robert E. Lee in the initial construction of the Petersburg trenches in 1861, so any direct accounts of his role (first or second hand) would be greatly appreciated.
Vauban-Style Fortifications
The Fort Ward Museum and Historic Site in Alexandria, Virginia in the Washington DC area is worth visiting. The defenses of Washington during the Civil War were Vauban-type earthworks located on the high ground outside the city -- the engineer officer who designed the fortifications also had to incorporate some of the hasty positions dug in 1861 before a proper terrain analysis had been done. My Dad took my brother and I to Fort Ward in 1959 when archeologists employed by Alexandria were excavating the site in preparation for turning it into a park. At about the same time a few hundred yards from the fort where I then lived a girl found a .69-caliber spherical musket ball while we kids were playing with toy cars in the dirt.