{"nrhp_refnum":"06000239","name":"Petersburg Breakthrough Battlefield","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Jct. of Duncan and Boydon Plank Rds.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Petersburg","county":"Dinwiddie County","state":"VA","lat":37.18025428750005,"lon":-77.46818811359452,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2006-02-17","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"2006-02-17","areas_of_significance":["Military","Politics/Government"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 647.4-acre Civil War battlefield district along Boydton Plank Road (U.S. Highway 1) in northeastern Dinwiddie County, Virginia, near Petersburg. It preserves Confederate earthworks built in 1864-1865 and the ground of the Union assault of April 2, 1865.","why_significant":"The site is where Union forces broke through the Confederate defenses of Petersburg on April 2, 1865. It retains about 1,700 linear feet of well-preserved Confederate earthworks, rifle pits, dams and artillery positions, which are rare survivals. Archaeological work has found sunken winter huts, the first of their kind excavated in Virginia, and more sites remain to be investigated. The Hart House is also significant as a Gothic Revival cottage.","narrative":"Petersburg Breakthrough Battlefield covers 647.4 acres in northeastern Dinwiddie County, Virginia, where Union troops broke the Confederate defensive line protecting Petersburg on April 2, 1865. From October 1864, soldiers of McGowan's South Carolina Brigade and others dug earthworks, rifle pits, artillery redans and dams across the Boisseau and Hart farms, and built winter huts behind the lines. About 1,700 linear feet of those works survive, partly because the marshy ground near Arthur Swamp was unsuitable for farming or development. Archaeologists in 1995 excavated three sunken winter huts, the first of their kind excavated in Virginia, and other sites remain untested. The district also includes the Hart House, a Gothic Revival cottage, and the site of the Harmon house, used briefly as a headquarters by Grant and Meade. Pamplin Historical Park occupies part of the land, with a trail following the Union assault, and its reproduction buildings are counted as noncontributing.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Other (earthen fortifications); Hart House is Gothic Revival","criteria":["A","C","D"],"status_note":"Part of the property is operated as Pamplin Historical Park, with a museum, a interpretive trail and park facilities. Much of the rest is forested.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:56.83315-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/15/6790/41679015/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/06000239_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06000239/c80f93b40f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06000239/c80f93b40f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"JERRYE &amp; ROY KLOTZ MD","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PETERSBURG_BREAKTHROUGH_BATTLEFIELD_HISTORIC_DISTRICT_AT_PAMPLIN_HISTORICAL_PARK.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">JERRYE &amp;amp; ROY KLOTZ MD</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PETERSBURG_BREAKTHROUGH_BATTLEFIELD_HISTORIC_DISTRICT_AT_PAMPLIN_HISTORICAL_PARK.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"03001095","name":"Petersburg Breakthrough Battlefield Historic District at Pamplin Historical Park","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/petersburg-breakthrough-battlefield-historic-district-at-pamplin-historical-park-03001095/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41679015","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petersburg_Breakthrough_Battlefield","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7178178"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/dinwiddie-county/petersburg-breakthrough-battlefield-06000239/"}