Fort Siebert
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Fort Siebert (1864-1865) - A U.S. Civil War Fort established in 1864 near Petersburg, Dinwiddie County, Virginia. Named Fort Siebert after 1st Lieutenant Jacob E. Siebert, 20th Michigan Volunteer Infantry, who was killed in action at the Pegram House, Virginia, on 30 Sep 1864. Abandoned in 1865 at the end of the war. HistoryThe Union seige operations against the Confederate lines around Petersburg began in June 1864 as Confederate forces fell back to a defensive line around the city. Union forces began to build a continuous seige line around the Confederate lines capturing new ground to complete the encirclement. Fortifications included earthworks forts, gun batteries and entrenchments that allowed the Union forces to place "one man per yard" along the ever lengthening line. Fort Siebert was established in 1864 as a Union earthworks fort along the outer secondary line south of Petersburg, Virginia. The fort was situated between Fort Emory and Fort Clarke and connected to them by entrenchments. This secondary line guarded the southern approaches to the Union siege line around Petersburg. Fort Siebert was garrisoned on 7 Dec 1864 with some 200 infantry and two 3" Rifles. At the completion of Fort Tracy in January 1865 the Union line around Petersburg was 32 miles in length, with some 36 forts and 50 gun batteries. With the general advance of Union troops on 2 Apr 1865 toward Petersburg, the Confederate line was broken and overnight General Robert E. Lee withdrew his troops from Petersburg ending the seige on 3 Apr 1865. The whole of the Union army followed Lee toward Appomattox and in a series of actions that rendered escape impossible, Lee was forced to surrender on 9 Apr 1865. The seige line fortifications around Petersburg were effectively abandoned on or about 3 Apr 1865, some 9 months after the siege began and 6 days before the end of the war. Current StatusUnknown.
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