1865.] 
AMERICAN AG-RICULTURIST. 
Q07 
ference to the manner in which fowls should be prepared 
for, and sent to. exliibUion. viz.: All fowls sliould have 
Ihei'.' legs washed clean before they are sent to a show— 
scarf, or dead skin, should he removed from the comb, 
dry dirt from the beak, and stains from the plumage. 
They shouhl, if possible, always be packed in baskets, 
which should be round, high enough fru' the cocks to 
stand upright in, even when crowing. The baskets should 
be covered with canvas. Fowls sliould be thoroughly 
fed before they leave liome for a fair or show, but the 
food must be soft—bread, sopped or steeped, is excellent; 
hard food is to be avoided, because the digestion will 
have to take place without exercise or gravel. Let birds 
of w liite plumage run at liberty till wanted to send away. 
Spanish are improved by confinement in a dark place for 
some days before sliowing, giving them just enough light 
to enable them to pick their food and to perch—they 
sliould also be littered with straw', as cieanliness has 
much to do witli the success. Game fowls, it is held, 
should be kept up for a few days and fed on bread, meal, 
bai ley, and peas : these latter make the plumage hard, 
but tliey also have a tendency to fatten, which is unde¬ 
sirable in games. White feathered birds, such as Silver 
Spangled Hamburg, Polands, etc., all require washing. 
This is not difficult—put a handful of soda in a bowl of 
warm water ; immerse the fowl entirely ; rinse thorough¬ 
ly in cold water ; wipe with a flannel and place in a bas¬ 
ket with straw, before a fire to dry. When fowls return 
from a show looking in perfect health, do nothing; but 
if the combs are dark, or crops hard, a tablespoonful 
.‘'castor oil may do them good. 
--- 
(Editorial Correspondence.) 
Visit to a Virginia Battle Field.—A Guide 
to the Chief Points of Interest. 
• - •- 
Jarratt House, Petersburg, Va., June "ilk, 1865. 
Last July 4th, while engaged with the Sanitary Com- 
mis.sion in caring for our sick and wounded soldiers, I 
wrote to the readers of the Agriculturist from a point 2 
to 3 miles north-east of where I now sit, giving an out¬ 
line map of the localities, and, so far as I could tlien see, 
of the military works around the city. Then I could 
or.ly look over Into these streets ; to-day, I am pleasant¬ 
ly seated in tlie heart of the city, with my family and a 
party of friends. Then a hundred thousand men were 
intent upon breaking iliroiigh the armed forces tliat met 
them at every point, and the almost unceasing roar of 
deep toned cannon, and the rattle of small arms broke 
upon the ear by day and by night. To-day. only here 
and tliere will one find an armed man in blue, and none 
in grey, and over tlie vast cliarnel field nought but the 
singing of uirds, in the few remaining groves, disturbs 
tlie death-like stillness.-Tlien I wrote, that no other 
spot I had ever seen in this country or in Europe, would 
so well repay a visit immediately after tlie war sliould 
clo.se, as the region around Petersburg. To-day I feel 
this more strongly than then For three days I have 
wandered among the endless lines of earth-works and 
fortifications that belt Petersburg on all sides but the 
nortli. and I am sure that no more intensely interesting 
locality is to be found in the world, when we take into 
account the number of men engaged, the length of time 
they were here, the severity of the almost d.aily strug¬ 
gles, and the closing up of the great war, of which the" 
final decisive contest was fought just southwest of this 
city.-That is hardly an over-estimate wliich gives 150 
to 200 miles as the combined length of the earthworks, 
rifle-pits, etc., within ten miles of Petersburg. These 
alone, seen in their present condition, before being 
greatly marred by the elements, are worth a journey of a 
thousand miles ...Hundreds now come daily, from almost 
all parts of the country, and many thousands will doubt¬ 
less visit this place tlve present year, while the locality 
will for many years, if not centuries, be Increasingly at¬ 
tractive_I learn that very few of the present visitors 
see more than n‘ small part of what is to be seen here¬ 
abouts, because there are no maps or guides to assist them. 
Thus, most examine the “ .Mine,” Forts Steadman, 
Sedgewick (“ Hell,”) and Mahone (“ Damnation,”) and 
go home without visiting the field of the decisive opera¬ 
tions on April 1st and 2d, last. At the request of many 
persons here, I will attempt to give a little outline of 
some of the more interesting points. 
The map on this page shows the relative position of 
Petersburg, Richmoml, and City Point. The last was 
Gen. Grant’s Head-quarters, and the base of supplies for 
the army of the Potomac, during ten months. (For 
description of this map and of the position of the armies, 
incidents, etc., see Agriculturist for August, 1864.) In 
the map on next page, is a general outline of the position 
of forts, etc., around Pe¬ 
tersburg, prior to April 1, 
this year. This sketch 
is from my own notes 
made while going over 
the ground, without any 
measuring line, or any 
compass save the sun: 
hence the distances, bear¬ 
ings, and angles, may not 
be entirely accurate, but 
they are sufficiently so, 
to greatly aid the visitor. 
The map is on a scale 
guessed at about one inch 
to the mile. Only some 
principal points are indi¬ 
cated. There are scores 
of batteries, and hun¬ 
dreds of short lines, small 
earthworks, and rifle-pits, 
etc., not indicated. Be¬ 
yond or outside of the 
space covered by the map, 
for miles away, are to be 
found forts, earthworks, 
and scenes of skirmishes 
and pitched battles, as at 
Ream’s Station down the 
Weldon railroad, at Five 
Forks several miles south¬ 
west, and also on the 
Boydton Plank Road, and 
along Hatcher’s Run. The 
space covered by the map 
is cut up with lines of 
breastworks, rifle-pits, 
earth-forts, thousands of 
soldiers’ huts still stand¬ 
ing, and almost unending 
lines of abatis (ab-a-tee ). 
These last consist of 
sharpened sticks and tree 
tops placed firmly in the 
ground, and leaning out¬ 
ward, a few rods in front 
of the main lines and 
around the forts, ar¬ 
ranged so as to greatly ob¬ 
struct the approach of an enemy. Most of the abatis 
are bound togctlier by strong wires. Tliey are being 
removed quite rapidly for fire wood, by the negroes and 
other inliabitants of Petersburg. This, with the 
washing down of the many earth-ridges and rifle-pits 
by rains, and the leveling of otliers for agricultural pur- 
po.'^es, will materially change tlie appearance of the 
S'hole region ere long. The main lines consist chieflv 
of heavy continuous banks of earth, high enough to 
shield tlie bodies of the men. too illicit to be battered 
dow n by cannon, and having a ditch on the side next to the 
enemy. Forts and batteries are built at convenient dis¬ 
tances along the lines, to cover tlie space between 
them, and are usually placed upon knolls, or liiglier por¬ 
tions of tlie ground. Some of the forts are very large 
and well fini-lied. witli bomb-proofs. A bomb-proof is 
usually made tliiis : a sliallow cellar is dug. if tlie ground 
allow, and walls of logs are laid 6‘i to 8 feet high ; long 
log beams are laid across the top, projecting a few feet 
each way ; upon tliese. :i flooring of logs is placed and 
eartli piled over, and also up against tlie sides, so thick 
as to be impenetrable by shell, thus forming a secure 
retreat. Air and some light enter between the cross¬ 
beams. These bomb-proofs are of various sizes and 
forms; one in Fort Wadswortli is about 150 feet long 
and some 12 feet wide inside. Ammunition magazines are 
similarly built. Sometimes the eaith walls of the bomb 
proofs, and of the forts themselves, are kept perpendicu 
lar by means of bags, or baskets of earth, or by fascines 
(bundles of long rods, or slicks bound together). Some 
of tlie forts are fine specimens of military workmanship, 
as Fort Fisher, and Forts Wadsworth and Sedgwick. 
The first map shows the general position of the lines 
last July. In .\ugust and September, Gen. Grant ad¬ 
vanced his lines to the Weldon Railro.ad, and secured a 
second line, curving in north-west at Fort Fisher 
towards the South-side Railroad, which it was very de¬ 
sirable to reach, and w hich was so strenuously defended 
by tlie enemy. (See map II.) This line was retained. 
The most interesting points to be examined by the 
transient visitor, are: Fort Gregg, (rebel,) Fort Fisher 
and the lower or observatory (150 feet higli) near it. Pop¬ 
lar Grove Church Forts Wadsworth, Sedgwick and 
Mahone, the Mine, and Foil Steadman. On horseback, 
one can go the round of all these in n day, following the 
dotted line in the direction of the arrows, or in tlie re¬ 
verse order, beginning at tlie north-east. But two or 
three days will be far more satisfactory. I will sketch 
briefly a two-days trip by a parly of tliirteen of us—two 
ladies, three children of 9 to 14 years, with four men be¬ 
sides the driver all in a large covered spring wagon 
and four men on horseback. Outfit: a box of eatables, 
a jug of water and cup, some bags for holding relics, a 
large hatchet, and field glasses to aid tli^ eyes, brought 
from home. Clothing and shoes adapted to rough journey. 
Another valuable adjunct w as a package of Daily Papers, 
selected from the home files, containing descriptions at 
the time, of movements and battles occurring at the var¬ 
ious points to be visited, to be read in connection with 
the actual examination of the localities. 
First Day's Trip .—Starting from the Jarratt House 
westward, then deflecting to the left, we passed the noi tli 
side of the rebel hospitals, as shown on the map, and 
continued west M to mile, until a short turn to tlie left 
(south) took us nearly to Mr. Green’s house. Then 
ttirning to the right, and passing by the negro huts, we 
continued west across a brook, and up a hill, going just 
south of Roger A. Prior’s residence, situated in tlie grove 
of trees on the right. Bending to the south south-west, 
we followed a field road to the rebel Fort Gregg, a large 
prominent fort on a hill, H to % mile from Mr. Prior's 
house. All along the route, so far, and indeed all the 
rest of the way, are seen rifle pits, breastworks, etc. On 
the road west from the hospitals, the chimnies in the 
distance (west) indicate where Gen. Lee's headquarters 
were before the buildings were burned on the evacua¬ 
tion. Before reaching Fort Gregg, we see on the left 
the remains of a large dam, built to overflow the Union 
camps, some distance southward.- Fort Greoo. 
There are two forts of this name, one Union and one 
Rebel. The hatter is a point of great interest. Strong as 
it is, it was assaulted and taken by storm on April 2nd. 
Standing on the fort and looking south-east, we see the 
valley through which the heavy assaulting party came 
up amid a tempest of lead and iron. The many Union 
graves in front, and the mounds of rebel dead buried in 
its rear, with the cannon shot and bullet holes in the 
palisades, indicate the severity of the siriiggle. How 
flesh and blood could have lived throiigh'the fire of can¬ 
non and musketry, crossed the deep ditch, and climbed 
Into the fort we stand on, it is almost impossible to 
conceive. But it was done, and this was one of the 
crowning achievements that secured the evacuation 
of Petersburg and Richmond. One will not soon tire 
here, looking over the wide fields on eve'iy side, and 
reading the description of the assault. Just west of Fort 
I.—^VICINITY OF RICHMOND AND PETERSBUKS. 
