General Lee's Headquarters

The Beasley House, on High Street three blocks north and half a block west of here, served as Gen. Robert E. Lee’s second headquarters during the Siege of Petersburg. He relocated there on 1 Nov. 1864 from Violet Bank, a plantation house across the Appomattox River, because falling leaves had left that property exposed. In the following weeks, Lee inspected the lines on his right wing amid growing concerns about the insufficient size of his army. On 23 Nov. he moved his headquarters to Edge Hill, about two miles west of Petersburg.