City Point was a crucial port and supply hub for the Army of the Potomac once it reached Petersburg. Situated at the confluence of the James and Appomattox Rivers, what had been a quiet, small town was transformed into a busy city with a large hospital complex, storehouses, ammunition and ordnance facilities, and railroads that carried supplies from wharves newly erected to receive them from swarms of transports and cargo vessels. Grant established his headquarters there, Lincoln met there with Grant, Sherman and Admiral Porter in March 1865 and Confederate agents thought it worthwhile to try to blow the whole place up August 1864 with time bomb planted on an ordnance barge that detonated tens of thousands of artillery shells rounds of infantry ammunition, killing and wounding at least 170 and causing a couple of million dollars in damage.

A number of interesting relics have come out of the area, both on land and the water. This naval sextant with a City Point provenance has a wonderful excavated look that just tells you it came out of the mud and water at some point. The brass elements show a deep green and corrosion. Any maker’s marks are long gone, as is the glass and mirror, but much of the wood handle remains.

Essential to navigation, this instrument’s loss must have been the source of some comment shipboard. As it is, its condition gives it a great look and romantic appeal in a display of naval artifacts, testifying to the science of navigation and its hazards.  [sr]

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