The following pictures were taken by Robert Daniels over
various years
(Additional American Civil War Battle-Sites and
Other Notable Pictures of the War by Robert Daniels is licensed under
CC BY 4.0.)
The American Civil War, fought between 12 April 1861 and
9 May 1865 was one of the bloodiest wars fought by the United States.
Fought mostly in the southern states, it cost the lives of between
620,000 and 750,000 soldiers (both Union and Confederate. Many of the
battlefields that remain today and are open to the public are under the
protection of and administered by the U.S. National Park Service, while
others are protected and managed by state or local governments. What
follows are pictures of some of these sites that I visited. These
pictures were taken over numerous years. I hope you enjoy viewing them.
About 17 or so miles southwest of
Portsmouth, Virginia, is the city of Suffolk. Soon after the fall
of both Norfolk and Portsmouth to the northeast in May of 1862 until the
end of the war, Suffolk was under the control of Union forces.
However, from early April to May of 1863 the city was laid siege to by
Confederate forces under the command of Confederate General James
Longstreet. During this siege, the Union sent a small fleet of
armored ironclad ships down the Nansemond River to relieve the siege.
This fleet was fired at and returned fire upon Confederate shore
batteries along the river just west of the town. Soon afterward,
Longstreet and his troops were recalled by General Robert E. Lee, ending
the siege. Although no known fortifications remain of this siege,
two historical markers are present to in the city to commemorate the
siege. Both are located on N. Main Street, one at its intersection
with Godwin Blvd. and Pruden Blvd., and the other about 3/4th of a mile
south near the parking lot of a Pizza Hut.

Leading South from what is now
Chesapeake, Virginia, to the Albemarle Sound in North Carolina, is the
Dismal Swamp Canal. It skirts the eastern edge of the Dismal Swamp
and passes through South Mills, North Carolina, where a lock was at the
time and still is located today. During the war, both sides wanted
control of the canal since it connected the Portsmouth/Norfolk area with
the Sound, therefore, it was as an avenue of supplies to the Confederacy
in the area. Two skirmished occurred over the control of the
canal, the first in April 1862 and the second in December 1863.
Following are pictures and markers pertaining to the canal and these
skirmishes.

This marker is located in the
Deep Creek Lock Park, in the Deep Creek section of Chesapeake, Virginia.

This marker is located in the
Dismal Swamp Canal Trail parking lot, in the Deep Creek section of
Chesapeake.


The above two markers are located
in the Ballahack Boat Ramp/Dismal Swamp Canal Trail parking lot along
the canal/trail near the corner of Ballahack Rd. and Highway 17 in
southern Chesapeake. Although the North West Canal is no longer
usable, its remnants can be seen along Glencoe St. just north of the
remains of the Beeckwood Manor and cemetery (see below).

Beechwood Manor and its cemetery,
both located on Belle Haven St. in southern Chesapeake, Virginia about a
mile east of the canal.


Map of the Civil War in North
Carolina (from the above marker)

CSS Albemarle (from the above marker)
SS Massaoit (from the above marker)

The "Battle of Elizabeth City"
painting (from the above marker)
The above marker and its insets
are located just off of the parking lot in the Dismal Swamp Canal
Welcome Center along Highway 17, 3 miles south of the Virginia-North
Carolina state border in North Carolina.

The above marker is located on
Canal Dr. in South Mills, North Carolina, just west of the South Mills
Lock.

This marker is situated on State
Road 343, about 2.5 miles southeast of South Mills.