Grant's Cabin at Appomattox Manor, Hopewell, VA Photos

When the Union set up their 1864 siege of Petersburg, they turned the Hopewell harbor into one of the busiest ports in the world as offloaded supplies were sent by rail directly to the siege lines. Immediately adjacent on the shore of the Appomattox River wharves, Ulysses S. Grant's took over the Appomattox Plantation for his headquarters operation. However, for the symbolic value and to show his men that this was not to be a long-term situation, he set up his living quarters in a tent on the lawn. However, while he was off in Washington for meetings, Grant's staff built him a cabin, to which he did not object. Lincoln arrived at this front line location on March 24, 1865. The cabin and the Dr. Richard Eppes plantation house are now run as a museum by the U.S. Parks Service.