Petersburg fortifications

E830596

Civil War battlefield fortifications military fortification system

The Petersburg fortifications were an extensive network of Confederate defensive earthworks and trenches around Petersburg, Virginia, that played a central role in the prolonged siege operations of the American Civil War.

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All labels observed (7)

Label	Occurrences
Confederate Army defenses of Petersburg	1
Confederate defensive works around Petersburg	1
Confederate fortifications at Petersburg	1
Petersburg fortifications canonical	1
Petersburg siege lines	1
Richmond defensive works	1
Williamsburg Line	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T9940179 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Petersburg fortifications
Context triple: [Battle of Lewis’s Farm, associatedWith, Petersburg fortifications]

A. Fort Ward
Fort Ward is a historic waterfront neighborhood and former military installation on Bainbridge Island in Washington State.
B. Fort Saint-Nicolas
Fort Saint-Nicolas is a historic 17th-century military fortress in Marseille, France, built to protect the city and its harbor and now recognized as a significant cultural monument.
C. Fort Macon
Fort Macon is a 19th-century coastal defense fortification in North Carolina, built as part of the United States’ Third System of seacoast defenses and now preserved as a state park and historic site.
D. Old Point Comfort
Old Point Comfort is a historic strategic promontory at the mouth of Hampton Roads in southeastern Virginia, long used as a coastal defense site and navigational landmark.
E. Fort St. Philip
Fort St. Philip is a historic coastal fortification in Louisiana that played a key defensive role in multiple American conflicts, including the War of 1812 and the Civil War.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Petersburg fortifications
Target entity description: The Petersburg fortifications were an extensive network of Confederate defensive earthworks and trenches around Petersburg, Virginia, that played a central role in the prolonged siege operations of the American Civil War.

A. Fort Ward
Fort Ward is a historic waterfront neighborhood and former military installation on Bainbridge Island in Washington State.
B. Fort Saint-Nicolas
Fort Saint-Nicolas is a historic 17th-century military fortress in Marseille, France, built to protect the city and its harbor and now recognized as a significant cultural monument.
C. Fort Macon
Fort Macon is a 19th-century coastal defense fortification in North Carolina, built as part of the United States’ Third System of seacoast defenses and now preserved as a state park and historic site.
D. Old Point Comfort
Old Point Comfort is a historic strategic promontory at the mouth of Hampton Roads in southeastern Virginia, long used as a coastal defense site and navigational landmark.
E. Fort St. Philip
Fort St. Philip was a strategically vital British-held fortress on the island of Menorca that played a central role in Mediterranean naval conflicts, including the Battle of Minorca in 1756.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Civil War battlefield fortifications ⓘ military fortification system ⓘ
afterEvent	evacuation of Richmond ⓘ fall of Petersburg ⓘ
associatedWith	Ambrose Burnside ⓘ Battle of the Crater ⓘ Robert E. Lee ⓘ Third Battle of Petersburg ⓘ Ulysses S. Grant ⓘ
conflict	American Civil War ⓘ
constructionMaterial	earth ⓘ timber ⓘ
constructionMethod	field fortifications ⓘ
controlledBy	Confederate States Army ⓘ
country	Confederate States of America ⓘ
currentStatus	partially preserved in Petersburg National Battlefield ⓘ
endTime	1865-04 ⓘ
hasPart	Dimmock Line ⓘ Fort Gregg ⓘ Fort Mahone ⓘ artillery batteries ⓘ earthworks ⓘ fortified lines ⓘ inner defensive lines around Petersburg ⓘ outer defensive lines around Petersburg ⓘ redans ⓘ redoubts ⓘ rifle pits ⓘ trenches ⓘ
heritageDesignation	United States National Battlefield Park ⓘ linked to: National Military Parks of the United States
inspiredBy	contemporary European siege tactics ⓘ
location	Petersburg, Virginia ⓘ
notableFor	lengthy trench warfare ⓘ
opposedBy	Army of the James ⓘ Army of the Potomac ⓘ United States Army ⓘ
partOf	Siege of Petersburg ⓘ
protects	Petersburg railroad junctions ⓘ supply lines to Richmond ⓘ
result	breached by Union forces in April 1865 ⓘ
startTime	1864-06 ⓘ
strategicImportance	defense of Richmond, Virginia ⓘ
timePeriod	1864 ⓘ 1865 ⓘ
usedBy	Army of Northern Virginia ⓘ Confederate defenders of Petersburg ⓘ linked to: Confederate Army defenses around Richmond
usedFor	prolonged defensive warfare ⓘ siege operations ⓘ

How these facts were elicited