Petersburg Mysterious Marker
 |
| On a recent trip to the Petersburg battlefield, I decided I wanted to
go down into the railway cut between the Crater and Fort Morton, one of
the places where Burnside's troops sheltered before making the early
morning assault.
Now, this is not a place anybody normally goes, although the grass is
cut right up to the point of the railroad right of way. But not
far from the Crater itself, I noticed what you see in the picture above |
 |
| I have no idea what it is. It's white plastic, like a heavy
garbage bag, fastened to the ground. It's clearly some sort of
marker, like a survey marker or bench mark, or boundary mark of some
kind. |
 |
| You can see this written on one corner. FHWA normally means
Federal Highway Administration. My first guess is that it marks a boundary
of the railway cut, which is owned by the railway, or so I
though, but perhaps it is administered by the FHWA. I know they
aren't going to put a highway through here - check out the pic below. |
 |
| Here's the marker, and in the trees above you can see the split rail
fence that lines the south edge of the crater. |
 |
| Another, wider view of the marker. In the distance the trees
surround the crater; to the right you can barely see a smear of brown
that marks the mouth of the mine Burnsides troops made. The marker
appears to be pointing north.
The marker isn't permanent, it's just a tough plastic that won't last
forever, but should be good for a few years. Just another example
of what you find when you wander off the beaten path at these
battlefields.
If anybody has a good idea of this marker's significance, I'd love to
hear about it! Email me at william_prouty@yahoo.com.
|
Posted by Indiana Reb on: Sunday 8th October 2006, 12:15 PM
|
