First Action at Suffolk

Sunday, April 12, 1863

The Thirteenth New Hampshire was hard at work digging ditches and earthworks in preparation for a siege by Confederate forces under General James Longstreet. Today the Ninth Corps formed a line of battle along the Nansemond River, nearly three miles south of Suffolk. The Confederates were entrenched in a large force near the Petersburg Railroad to protect their supply lines. The Thirteenth New Hampshire spent the evening on picket duty and the regiment was at arms during the night.¹

References:
¹S. Millett Thompson, Thirteenth Regiment of New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865 : A Diary Covering Three Years and a Day (Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1888), 123-27.