Plantation life at City Point changed forever when the Union army passed through in May 1862. As Union forces attempted to take Richmond, plantation owner, Richard Eppes enlisted in the Confederate army, his family fled to Petersburg for safety, and the majority of his slaves simply disappeared.

Two years later, his plantation became the Union headquarters as Grant's army attacked and besieged the city of Petersburg. Ironically, City Point became a major supply depot where individuals like Cornelia Hancock and Rufus Ingalls served to support the Union forces in their attempts to reunite a nation and to end slavery.