Grape Shot-Struck Board from Oak Grove Church, Reams Station with Embedded Iron Grape Shot

Description

Grape Shot-Struck Board from Oak Grove Church, Reams Station

With Embedded Iron Grape Shot

Published in Blue & Gray Magazine, Vol. 23, No. 5 (2007)

This powerful battlefield relic is an original section of wood siding recovered from Oak Grove Church, a structure located near the Reams Station battlefield south of Petersburg, Virginia. The board contains two iron grape shot projectiles inset where they struck the building during the violent action of August 25, 1864. The heavy splintering and torn wood fibers around the impact sites unmistakably reflect the destructive force of close-range artillery fire.

 

Oak Grove Church stood along the Halifax Road and found itself in the midst of repeated military movements during the Petersburg Campaign. During the Second Battle of Reams Station, the area was swept by intense musketry and artillery—including grape and canister—fired by Confederate batteries supporting the assault on Hancock’s entrenched Union II Corps. The church’s siding absorbed numerous strikes, and this surviving board vividly shows the type of damage inflicted.

 

The display includes:

• Copied photos of Oak Grove Church
• A map detailing troop positions around Reams Station
• Narrative tags describing the board and impact sites
• A historical article excerpt documenting the wartime structure and its preservation

 

This very piece was published in Blue & Gray Magazine, Volume 23, Issue 5 (2007) in the feature article Civil War – Action at Petersburg, Va., providing strong documentation and provenance.

 

The board retains its untouched 19th-century surface with deep patina, weathering, and structural characteristics consistent with Civil War–era construction. Very few surviving architectural elements from the Petersburg Campaign exhibit such dramatic, first-hand evidence of direct grape shot impact. It remains a gripping example of the close-range artillery fight that defined the bloody engagement at Reams Station.

 

 

Inventory Number: CON 642