"It is not easy to write about the dreadful war between the North and the South. We press our breasts against a thorn when we recall the anguish of those days of death and disaster. It is often said that it is still too early to write the story of our Civil War. It will soon be too late. Some of us still live who saw those days. We should not shrink from recording what we know to be true. Thus only will a full history of American courage and fidelity be preserved, -- for all were Americans."
- Sarah Pryor, Petersburg citizen

While no one now lives who experienced the days of the Civil War, many people who fought in the trenches along the Eastern Front or lived in the city of Petersburg, fortunately recorded their stories.