The Battery 5 trail also takes you to the location of
a well known Union mortar. During the siege, the mortar
nicknamed "The Dictator" was positioned safely at the base
of the hill on a reinforced railway car, and used to shell the city
from a distance safely one mile behind the Federal front lines. While generally considered to be militarily ineffective,
it
ended up being the most photographed ordinance piece of the war.
"The Dictator" sitting at
the foot of the hill below the former Confederate Battery Five.
During the siege of Petersburg, this mortar would have been mounted on
a railway car, and there would have been no trees in the area.
"The Dictator" on it's
railway car during the siege of Petersburg.
