plantations. They were integral to the success of the area in exporting its tobacco crop. In some cases, slaves escaped to the nearby Great Dismal Swamp and joined the Great Dismal Swamp maroons. During the American Revolutionary War, the town was burned by the British in 1779. It was totally destroyed after thousands of barrels of turpentine and pitch caught fire in warehouses along the river. Through the Civil War Suffolk became an incorporated town in Nansemond County in 1808. As part of Virginia, it sided with the Confederacy in the American Civil War. From May 12, 1862, to July 3, 1863, the town was occupied by 25,000 Union troops under Major General John J. Peck. Peck made his headquarters in the Greek revival house now called "Riddick's Folly". Graffiti from the occupying soldiers and prisoners can still be seen on the walls. During this period, Confederate General James Longstreet besieged the town with 20,000 men between April 11 and May 4, 1863 while gathering supplies for the Army of Northern Virginia. During the siege, General George Pickett would slip away to meet with his sweetheart and soon-to-be wife LaSalle (Sallie) Ann Corbell of Nansemond County. Longstreet was ordered to disengage by General Robert E. Lee and rejoin the Army of Northern Virginia at Fredericksburg. Two months later on July 3, the Union forces abandoned the town for strategic reasons, as decided by General John Adams Dix. Confederate cavalry general Laurence S. Baker is buried in the town's Cedar Hill Cemetery. Later political history Suffolk became a city independent from the surrounding county in 1910. At a practical level, the two remained closely linked, and the county seat remained at Suffolk after the city became politically independent. Thus it remained until 1972 when the county was converted to city status to become the short-lived lost city the City of Nansemond. On January 1, 1974, the City of Nansemond and the City of Suffolk united to become the present City of Suffolk, consolidating with the outlying incorporated towns of Holland and Whaleyville. The end result was a new municipality encompassing a total of , making it the largest city in land area in Virginia and the 16th largest in the country. Suffolk celebrated its 400th anniversary in 2008. It is (), the fastest-growing city in Virginia. The importance of peanuts In 1912, Italian immigrant Amedeo Obici came from Pennsylvania and opened