| Virginia, Newport News — “Every Kind of Obstruction was Skillfully Used” — 1862 Peninsula Campaign |
| | The Battle of Dam No. 1 proved a lost opportunity for the Union Army to break the Warwick-Yorktown line and force a Confederate withdrawal toward Richmond. Instead, Major General George McClellan spent another 17 days completing his heavy artillery emplacements. Furthermore, the Confederates retreated two days before the proposed Union grand barrage on May 5, 1862. Major General “Prince” John Magruder’s troop maneuvers and elaborate defenses on the Warwick-Yorktown line halted the . . . — Map (db m11241) |
| Virginia, Newport News — “Just Like Sap – Boiling, in the Stream” — 1862 Peninsula Campaign |
| | The Vermont troops waited in vain for reinforcements; Corporal Alonzo Hutchinson was mortally wounded while crossing the Warwick River and died without signaling for support. The Union leaders also failed to exploit the break in the Confederate lines. Brigadier General William Smith had fallen twice from his horse and was knocked unconscious. Moreover, Captain Fernando Harrington was missing from the battlefield. Thus, Captain Samuel Pingree took command and rallied the men against a second . . . — Map (db m11215) |
| Virginia, Newport News — “The Bullets Would Whistle Around my Head” — 1862 Peninsula Campaign |
| | After the 15th North Carolina’s repulse, Brigadier General Howell Cobb (a former governor of Georgia and secretary of treasury) rallied the Confederates and prepared to drive the Vermonters into the water. Cobb commanded a brigade in Brigadier General Lafayette McLaw’s division and reinforced the line with the 7th, 8th, 11th, and 16th Georgia Infantry regiments. With great noise and shouting, the Georgians attacked Captain Samuel Pingree’s beleaguered command and forced their withdrawal across . . . — Map (db m11218) |
| Virginia, Newport News — “Their Conduct was Worthy of Veterans” — 1862 Peninsula Campaign |
| | Brigadier General William Smith massed 18 cannons in an open field within 500 yards of the opposite shore. In addition, General Smith deployed Brigadier General William T.H. Brooks’s Vermont Brigade along the Warwick River with two brigades in support. Four companies of Colonel Breed N. Hyde’s 3rd Vermont Infantry were selected to cross the river under the command of Captain Fernando Harrington. Moreover, Brooks gave Corporal Alonzo Hutchinson a white handkerchief as a signal for . . . — Map (db m11202) |
| Virginia, Newport News — A Great Confederate Naval Victory |
| | On March 8, 1862, the day before her epic battle with the U.S.S. Monitor, the Confederate ironclad ram Virginia (formerly the U.S.S. Merrimack) engaged and sank in the James River two powerful Union sailing Ships of War, the U.S.S. Cumberland and the U.S.S. Congress, and also silenced Union shore batteries on the bluffs at Newport News. Despite the gallant defense of these vessels, that day’s action vividly demonstrated the superiority of metal over wood. The victory was a high point in the . . . — Map (db m10341) |
| Virginia, Newport News — A Large Brick Kitchen |
| | In the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, Chesapeake planters moved the preparation and cooking of food from their homes to a separate structure. Thus, the odors, noise and heat from cooking were eliminated from the main house. Most importantly, separate kitchens reduced the chances of fires in the dwelling house. This move also represented the emerging racial lines of chattel slavery in the late 1600s. Sidebar: The plantation kitchen was second only to the dwelling house in . . . — Map (db m16553) |
| Virginia, Newport News — A Nameless Grave — By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow |
| | “A soldier of the Union mustered out,” is the inscription on an unknown grave at Newport News, beside the salt-sea wave, nameless and dateless; sentinel or scout shot down in skirmish, or disastrous rout of battle when the loud artillery drave its iron wedges through the ranks of brave and doomed battalions, storming the redoubt. Thou unknown hero sleeping by the sea in thy forgotten grave. With secret shame I feel my pulses beat, my forehead burn, when I remember thou hadst given . . . — Map (db m16595) |
| Virginia, Newport News — An Earthwork in Front |
| | Situated on high ground two miles behind the Warwick-Yorktown line, this redoubt (a four or multiple-sided field fortification) was constructed by the Confederate Army of the Peninsula. It provided a field of fire down the Great Warwick Road toward Lee’s Mill. Moreover, this redoubt marks the site of a skirmish on May 4, 1862. The Confederates had evacuated the Warwick-Yorktown line on May 3, 1862, after a three-week siege. The next morning the Union Army occupied the Confederate earthworks . . . — Map (db m16548) |
| Virginia, Newport News — W 232 — Aviation Field Yorktown |
| | From July 1919 until Aug. 1921, the U.S. Navy operated an aviation training school north of here at what was then known as the U.S. Navy Mine Depot (U.S. Naval Weapons Station). The school provided the first advanced aviation and gunnery operations. In Oct. 1922 the aviation field supported the first flight made from a U.S. aircraft carrier, USS Langley, which was anchored in the York River. Also, on 8 May 1925 likely the first overland commercial flight from New York City to this region landed there. — Map (db m10339) |
| Virginia, Newport News — Balthrope — Boldrup |
| | Preface: Newport News was a small community located in Warwick County until late in the 19th century. Established as a town in 1880, it was incorporated as a city in 1896. Warwick County, one of the eight original Virginia shires formed by 1634, became extinct in 1952 when it was designated the city of Warwick. It merged with Newport News in 1958. In 1626, William Claiborne patented 500 acres along the Warwick River above Denbign. Captain Samuel Stevens acquired the estate, called . . . — Map (db m13959) |
| Virginia, Newport News — Battle of Dam No. 1 — The Water Boiled with Bullets — 1862 Peninsula Campaign |
| | You are presently standing at the site of Dam No. 1, one of three dams constructed by Confederate commander John Bankhead Magruder to make the sluggish Warwick River into a defensive barrier. Dam No. 1 was the mid-point between two prewar tide mills at Lee’s Mill and Wynne’s Mill. The Union attack against the Confederate earthworks across the river on April 16, 1862, would veer to the left of the existing foot bridge. On April 5, 1862, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan’s Union army found its . . . — Map (db m10355) |
| Virginia, Newport News — Battle of Lee’s Mill — Flames Appeared on all Sides — 1862 Peninsula Campaign |
| | The fortifications that appear before you are all that remain of the extensive Confederate fortifications defending the Warwick River crossing at Lee’s Mill. After an uneventful march up the Great Warwick Road through Young’s Mill on April 4, the Union IV Corps resumed its march up the Peninsula the next day determined to reach the Half-way House between Williamsburg and Yorktown. The lead division, commanded by Brig. Gen. William F. “Baldy” Smith, found its progress slowed first . . . — Map (db m10362) |
| Virginia, Newport News — Battle of Lee’s Mill (Dam Number 1) — April 16, 1862 |
| | A stalwart defense of the Warwick River by units of the 15th North Carolina, 7th Georgia and 2nd Louisiana Infantry, C.S.A., commanded by General J.B. Magruder is commemorated here. The defensive line extending across the Virginia Peninsula was held under Federal fire during April 1862 by the numerically superior Army of the Potomac under General G.B. McClellan. At the Battle of Lee’s Mill (also called Battle of Dam No. 1) companies of the 3rd, 4th and 6th Vermont Infantry twice succeeded in . . . — Map (db m10340) |
| Virginia, Newport News — Berdan’s Sharpshooters — 1862 Peninsula Campaign |
| | From this rifle pit, Colonel Hiram Berdan’s 1st U.S. Sharpshooters targeted Confederate troops on the opposite bank of the Warwick River. Hiram Berdan, considered the nation’s best marksman, organized the regiment from hand-picked volunteers who placed ten consecutive shots in a 10-inch circle at 200 yards. The Sharpshooters wore green uniforms for camouflage, and some of the men carried their own target rifles with telescopic sights. Berdan’s Sharpshooters served as skirmishers in the advance . . . — Map (db m11270) |
| Virginia, Newport News — Birth of Naval Aviation |
| | “The value of the aeroplane for the Navy is unquestioned.” – Eugene B. Ely Naval aviation dates from November 14, 1910, when stunt pilot Eugene B. Ely coaxed a Curtiss “Pusher” biplane from the deck of the cruiser “Birmingham” in these waters, landing in nearby Norfolk. Despite detractors, Ely secured private funding and Navy aid for his daring effort, launching a virtual revolution in military aviation. Newport News Historical Commission 1993 — Map (db m15420) |
| Virginia, Newport News — Collis Potter Huntington — as a young man |
| | Born October 22, 1821, Harwinton, Connecticut Died August 13, 1900, “Pine Knot Camp.” New York ---------- • ---------- Sculpted and presented by Anna Hyatt Huntington Dedicated October 22, 1966 Right of Monument: Collis Potter Huntington Founder, 1869 – 1881 Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Deep-Water Terminal ---------- • ---------- “This is a point so designed and adapted by nature that it will require comparatively little at the hands of man to fit it for our purpose. . . . — Map (db m16598) |
| Virginia, Newport News — Confederate Dead |
| | Forward Monument:
Confederate Prisoners of War who died in Federal Prison in Newport News Va between April and July 1865 are interred here. This memorial was donated by Mildred Rhodes Duncan Thomas Purnell Duncan, Jr.
Front of Monument: Confederate Dead
Side of Monument:
Remains of 154 Confederate Soldiers Died at Newport News, VA. 1861 1865
Side of Monument:
To our soldier dead erected by Lee Camp No. 3 Confederate Veterans. of Hampton VA. A tribute from the . . . — Map (db m10451) |
| Virginia, Newport News — Congress – Cumberland — Give Them a Broadside Boys, as She Goes — 1862 Peninsula Campaign |
| | In this section of the James River directly in front of you lies the remains of the USS Cumberland. At this location and along the shore to your left were the Union batteries that protected Camp Butler. On March 8, 1862, the Confederate ironclad ram CSS Virginia attacked the Federal fleet blockading the James River. The conversion of the Virginia during the past year from the former steam frigate USS Merrimack, scuttled when Federal forces evacuated Norfolk in 1861, . . . — Map (db m10344) |
| Virginia, Newport News — Custer’s Covered Way — 1862 Peninsula Campaign |
| | George Armstrong Custer had the dubious honor of graduating last in the 1861 class at West Point. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 5th U.S. Cavalry and fought with the Army of the Potomac in almost every major battle from Bull Run to Appomattox. During the Peninsula Campaign, Lieutenant Custer served with distinction as a staff officer and scout. He made an uneasy observation flight in the balloon Constitution at Warwick Court House and wrote that “My confidence in . . . — Map (db m11267) |
| Virginia, Newport News — Endview — Home of the Warwick Beauregards — 1862 Peninsula Campaign |
| | The white two-and-a-half story frame building in front of you in the distance is Endview. Endview was built circa 1760 by Col. William Harwood, Jr., who was a member of the House of Burgesses, a signer of the Virginia Resolves, and a Warwick County militia officer. When the French-American army began its march to begin the Revolutionary War’s Siege of Yorktown on September 28, 1781, Maj. Gen. Thomas Nelson, Jr.’s, 3,000-strong Virginia militia used Endview as a campground. Because of its . . . — Map (db m10381) |
| Virginia, Newport News — W 84 — First Battle of Ironclads |
| | In Hampton Roads, southward and a mile or two offshore, the Virginia (Merrimac) and the Monitor fought their engagement, March 9, 1862. The day before the Virginia destroyed the Cumberland and Congress, wooden ships of Union Navy. — Map (db m10139) |
| Virginia, Newport News — First Peninsula Defense Line |
| | Earthworks on the hillside above mark the southernmost of three fortified cross-peninsula defense lines built by Confederate Gen. John B. Magruder in the spring of 1862 and extending three miles from Deep Creek here at Young’s Mill, to the Poquoson River at Harwood’s Mill. Although rated formidable by Union Gen. C.D. Keys, this line was abandoned in favor of a firm stand on the second defense line at Lee’s Mill, April 5, 1862. — Map (db m10175) |
| Virginia, Newport News — W 56 — Fort Eustis |
| | Fort Eustis is named for a native Virginian, Gen. Abraham Eustis (1786 – 1843), a commander of Fort Monroe. In March 1918, the U.S. government established Camp Abraham Eustis as a coast artillery training center; it was designated a fort in 1923. It then served as a Federal Emergency Relief Administration transient camp during the Great Depression, an antiaircraft artillery training center, a prisoner of war camp during World War II, and the headquarters for the U.S. Army Transportation . . . — Map (db m10337) |
| Virginia, Newport News — Fortification Design — 1862 Peninsula Campaign |
| | The Confederate field fortifications constructed on the Virginia Peninsula were influenced by seventeenth-century French military engineer Marshal Sebastien le Prestre de Vauban and nineteenth-century American engineering professor Dennis Hart Mahan. Vauban designed superior fortresses with many fronts and bastions which presented an impenetrable defense in depth. He also revolutionized siegeworks by developing a system of parallels and zig-zag trenches for reducing fortresses with only minimal . . . — Map (db m11333) |
| Virginia, Newport News — Hampton Roads — World’s Largest Natural Harbor |
| | Preface: Newport News was a small community located in Warwick County until late in the 19th century. Established as a town in 1880, it was incorporated as a city in 1896. Warwick County, one of the eight original Virginia shires formed by 1634, became extinct in 1952 when it was designated the city of Warwick. It merged with Newport News in 1958. This body of water before you is the world’s largest natural harbor. Hampton Roads is formed by the confluence of the Elizabeth, James, and . . . — Map (db m13945) |
| Virginia, Newport News — Homestead by the Main Road |
| | Lee Hall Mansion is the only Italianate antebellum plantation house on the lower Peninsula. It was completed in 1859 and was home to Richard D. Lee, justice of the peace for Warwick County. In 1850 Lee purchased a 452-acre tract of land, which was listed as “the homestead by the main road.” He began construction of this house in the mid-1850s. Built on high ground, Lee Hall Mansion provided a commanding view of the countryside and was visible to travelers on the Great Warwick Road. . . . — Map (db m16547) |
| Virginia, Newport News — W 77 — James A. Fields House |
| | James A. Fields acquired this late-Victorian Italianate-style brick house in 1893. Fields, born into slavery in Hanover County, escaped in 1862 and became a contraband of war. He graduated in 1871 from what is now Hampton University and taught school. After receiving a law degree from Howard University in 1882, Fields served as the commonwealth’s attorney for Warwick County in 1887 and represented the region in the House of Delegates (1889-1890). After Field’s death in 1903, four doctors . . . — Map (db m10607) |
| Virginia, Newport News — James A. Fields House — Up from Slavery |
| | James Apostles Fields was born into slavery in Hanover County, Virginia, in 1844. During the Civil War, Fields and his brother George escaped to Hampton, where in 1862 they found refuge as “contrabands of war” at Fort Monroe. James Fields served as a guide for U.S. Army troops there. He learned to read and attended the “Butler School,” named for commanding Gen. Benjamin F. Butler and operated by missionaries. When Gen. Samuel Chapman Armstrong came to . . . — Map (db m10611) |
| Virginia, Newport News — Largest and Most Valuable Estate in the County |
| | In 1844, Richard D. Lee inherited 481.5 acres from his father’s estate. For the next 16 years, Lee improved and expanded his land holdings until he owned 2,100 acres. In 1860, his farm yielded 2,900 bushels of wheat, 3,500 bushels of corn, 1,400 bushels of oats, 1,200 bushels of hay and truck crops. In addition, he owned 14 milk cows, 72 beef cattle, 35 sheep and 130 hogs. Lee was a successful scientific farmer who followed the agricultural practices of Edmund Ruffin and John Taylor. By 1800, . . . — Map (db m16549) |
| Virginia, Newport News — W 228 — Lebanon Church |
| | The Campbellite congregation now associated with Lebanon Church was established about 1825. These followers of prominent religious leader Alexander Campbell originally shared the Chishiack “Cheesecake” Church in York County with other denominations. Friction with another sect using “Cheesecake” Church prompted the Lebanon congregation to move to Warwick County by 1848. The brick chapel was constructed here in 1859. Confederate General J. B. Magruder stationed cavalry at . . . — Map (db m10338) |
| Virginia, Newport News — Lebanon Church — In the Line of March — 1862 Peninsula Campaign |
| | Historic Lebanon Church, located behind you at the intersection of two strategic highways, served both the Confederate and the Union armies during the Civil War. Soon after Confederate Col. John Bankhead Magruder began organizing the Peninsula’s defenses at Yorktown on May 21, 1861, elements of the 3rd Virginia Cavalry established a courier station here. Countless Confederate soldiers marched by here between April 5 and May 3, 1862, to fill Magruder’s trenches. Three lines of fortifications . . . — Map (db m10389) |
| Virginia, Newport News — Lee Hall |
| | The village of Lee Hall, built after the arrival of the C & O Railway in the 1880’s, took its name from the fine residence begun in 1848 by Richard Decatur Lee overlooking his extensive Warwick County Plantation. Lee Hall became the headquarters of the Confederate General, John B. Magruder, in April and May 1862, during the Civil War Peninsula Campaign. The house is privately owned today. — Map (db m10257) |
| Virginia, Newport News — W 54 — Lee Hall |
| | Lee Hall, a stately Italianate plantation dwelling, was built by 1859 for affluent planter Richard Decatur Lee. Confederate generals John Bankhead Magruder and Joseph Eggleston Johnston used the mansion as their headquarters during the April – May 1862 Warwick-Yorktown siege phase of the Peninsula Campaign. An earthen fort in the yard used to launch a Confederate hot-air balloon on 17 Apr. 1862 remains from the military occupation. A brief skirmish was fought here on 4 May 1862 during the . . . — Map (db m10267) |
| Virginia, Newport News — Lee Hall — Siege Headquarters — 1862 Peninsula Campaign |
| | The small redoubt in front of you is the only visual evidence of Lee Hall’s military occupation by the Confederate army from May 1861 to May 1862. The antebellum mansion to your right served as a headquarters building for both Maj. Gen. John Bankhead Magruder, CSA, and Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, CSA, during the Peninsula Campaign’s Warwick – Yorktown Siege. Lee Hall was built between 1848 and 1859 by Warwick County’s leading landowner, Richard Decauter Lee. Lee had risen to prominence by . . . — Map (db m10376) |
| Virginia, Newport News — W 58 — Lee’s Mill |
| | Lee’s Mill, a pre-war tide mill, formed part of Confederate Maj. Gen. John Bankhead Magruder’s second Peninsula defensive line. When Union Gen. George B. McClellan began his Peninsula Campaign, his advance against Richmond was blocked here on 5 April 1862. Elements of the Union IV Corps led by Brig. Gen. William F. Smith skirmished with Confederates commanded by Brig. Gen. Lafayette McLaws at Lee’s Mill. The Federals believed that the extensive defenses could only be taken with heavy . . . — Map (db m10196) |
| Virginia, Newport News — W 71 — Lee’s Mill Earthworks |
| | These earthworks were part of General John B. Magruder’s second line of defense. At this site on April 5, 1862, Confederate General Lafayette McLaw’s four companies of the Tenth Georgia with Captain Joseph B. Cosnahan’s two batteries stopped the advance of Union General William F. “Baldy” Smith’s two divisions of the Fourth Army Corps and Captain Charles C. Wheeler’s six batteries. Several skirmishes and engagements occurred here between April 5 and May 4, 1862 at which time the . . . — Map (db m10206) |
| Virginia, Newport News — Master and Slaves |
| | Unlike their ancestors who worked in tobacco fields, Warwick County slaves provided labor for raising staple crops. Slaves also cared for livestock and draft animals, worked in fields, repaired fences, washed clothes, cut wood and performed a variety of chores. In addition, male slaves were often used as skilled craftsmen (carpenters, blacksmiths and coopers) on the plantation. Richard Lee inherited 7 male slaves in 1844. As he prospered, he purchased or rented more slaves. By 1860, Lee owned . . . — Map (db m16551) |
| Virginia, Newport News — Monitor – Merrimack — The Battle of the Ironclads — 1862 Peninsula Campaign |
| | Lincoln viewed the March 8, 1862, sinking of the USS Congress and USS Cumberland as the greatest Union calamity since Bull Run. Union Secretary of War Edwin W. Stanton feared that “the CSS Virginia (Merrimack) would soon come up the Potomac and disperse Congress, destroy the Capitol and public buildings…” Stanton believed that “McClellan’s mistaken purpose to advance by the Peninsula must be abandoned.” As the burning Congress set an . . . — Map (db m10347) |
| Virginia, Newport News — Monitor – Merrimack Battle |
| | From this spot March 9, 1862, observers anxiously awaited the outcome of one of the most famous naval battles of all time – between the Confederate ironclad Virginia (formerly USS Merrimack) and the Union ironclad Monitor. After four hours inconclusive combat, with neither vessel able to destroy the other, the contest ended in a draw. But the world took notice and the age of iron shipbuilding was so ushered into being there. — Map (db m10142) |
| Virginia, Newport News — Mott’s Battery — 1862 Peninsula Campaign |
| | On April 4, 1862, Major General George B. McClellan launched his offensive on the Virginia Peninsula against the Confederate capital at Richmond. Major General John B. Magruder’s 13,000 troops halted the Union advance along the Warwick-Yorktown line on April 5, 1862. With aggressive troop maneuvers and artillery duels, Magruder deceived McClellan into believing he faced impregnable fortifications defended by over 100,000 troops. “Our reconnaissance of yesterday,” reported McClellan, . . . — Map (db m11254) |
| Virginia, Newport News — W 57 — Mulberry Point |
| | Mulberry Point is situated on the James River, on the grounds of present-day Fort Eustis. In 1609-1610, the harsh winter known as the “Starving Time” prompted the surviving colonists at Jamestown to abandon it. They and the recently arrived Lieutenant Governor Sir Thomas Gates sailed away on 7 June 1610, bound for Newfoundland and the English fishing fleet. The next day, about ten miles downstream at Mulberry point, they encountered relief ships under the governor, Lord De La Warr, . . . — Map (db m10336) |
| Virginia, Newport News — Newport News — 1607 - 1957 |
| | This area was blessed with abundant springs famous to mariners for centuries after the great sea captain Christopher Newport visited here enroute to Jamestown in May 1607 in command of the first permanent English settlers of the New World. Thus began the great ports of Hampton Roads. First called Point Hope, it became Newport News between 1608 and 1619 and is the oldest English place name of any city in America. The name derives by tradition from the news received here of Captain Newport on . . . — Map (db m16568) |
| Virginia, Newport News — Newport News Point — … Named in His Honor |
| | Preface: Newport News was a small community located in Warwick County until late in the 19th century. Established as a town in 1880, it was incorporated as a city in 1896. Warwick County, one of the eight original Virginia shires formed by 1634, became extinct in 1952 when it was designated the city of Warwick. It merged with Newport News in 1958. In 1606, the Virginia Company of London received a charter from King James I to settle Virginia. The company selected Captain Christopher . . . — Map (db m13948) |
| Virginia, Newport News — Newport News POW Camp — Where Valor Proudly Sleeps |
| | The monument that stands before you was erected in June 1900 by the members of the Magruder Camp No. 36, United Confederate Veterans, to honor the 163 Confederate soldiers reinterred at this site who had died in the POW Camp next to Camp Butler on Newport News Point. Following the war’s end, the victorious Union army had thousands of Confederate troops to parole and return to their homes throughout the South. With Northern camps already filled with captured Confederates, a Newport News POW . . . — Map (db m10446) |
| Virginia, Newport News — One-Gun Battery — 1862 Peninsula Campaign |
| | The twelve miles of Confederate defenses followed the course of the Warwick River one mile from Yorktown to Mulberry Island. Dam No. 1, the mid-point, was protected by this one-gun battery mounting a 12-pound howitzer. In addition, a 6-pound smoothbore and a 24-pound howitzer were situated in the redoubts behind this point. On April 16, 1862, Brigadier General William Smith, a division commander in the IV Corps, directed an attack against Dam No. 1 to break through the Confederate lines. At . . . — Map (db m11201) |
| Virginia, Newport News — W 62 — Peninsula Campaign Warwick River |
| | Following the 10 June 1861 Battle of Big Bethel, Maj. Gen. John B. Magruder, commander of the Confederate Army of the Peninsula, organized the construction of three defensive lines of fortifications across the peninsula. The main line extended 12 miles from Yorktown to the Warwick River and downstream to Lee’s Mill, then westward to Skiffes Creek, which flowed into the James River at the Mulberry Island Point battery. When Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan began his Peninsula Campaign to capture . . . — Map (db m10198) |
| Virginia, Newport News — Skiffes Creek — The Defense of Mulberry Island — 1862 Peninsula Campaign |
| | The redoubt before you is one of five earthworks built by the Confederates to help defend the Mulberry Island/James River flank of Maj. Gen. John Bankhead Magruder’s 2nd Peninsula Defensive Line. This series of redoubts (of which only two remain) stretched from Lee’s Mill on the Warwick River to Skiffes Creek, thereby blocking any Federal flanking movement by way of Mulberry Island or Skiffes Creek. Until the emergence of the powerful ironclad ram CSS Virginia (Merrimack), Magruder had . . . — Map (db m10363) |
| Virginia, Newport News — Stanley Hundred — A New Settlement |
| | Preface: Newport News was a small community located in Warwick County until late in the 19th century. Established as a town in 1880, it was incorporated as a city in 1896. Warwick County, one of the eight original Virginia shires formed by 1634, became extinct in 1952 when it was designated the city of Warwick. It merged with Newport News in 1958. Sir George Yeardley served as governor and captain general of Virginia from 1619 to 1621 and from 1626 to 1627. He had arrived in Virginia . . . — Map (db m13953) |
| Virginia, Newport News — Ten Pound Parrott Rifle and Limber |
| | The Civil War Parrott Rifle was a muzzle loaded rifled cannon capable of firing a 10 pound projectile about 3000 yards at 12º elevation. Invented by Robert P. Parrott, the cast iron Parrott Rifle gave greater accuracy and a larger effective range compared to the more commonly used smooth-bore Napoleon. The barrel of this cannon is an original, manufactured in 1864 at West Point Foundry, Cold Spring, New York. The gun carriage and limber are cast iron replicas. The limber, to which the horses . . . — Map (db m20090) |
| Virginia, Newport News — The Battle of Lee’s Mill — 1862 Peninsula Campaign |
| | In March of 1862, Union Maj. Gen. George McClellan’s Army of the Potomac landed at Fort Monroe and Camp Butler. This large force contained 121,500 soldiers, 44 batteries of field artillery and 101 heavy siege cannons. Confederate Maj. Gen. John Magruder, promoted for his June 10, 1861 victory at the Battle of Big Bethel, rightly viewed his situation as precarious and requested more cannons and troops for the Peninsula’s defenses. On April 4, 1862, the Army of the Potomac moved up the Peninsula . . . — Map (db m11310) |
| Virginia, Newport News — The Cemetery — The Civil War at Endview — A living history museum |
| | Located near a circa 1630 house site, this graveyard has held the mortal remains of the Harwood family and other persons since the seventeenth century. Southern plantations typically had a private plot containing the graves of several generations of family members. However, the Endview cemetery has only a few markers left that clearly identify the deceased. Humphrey K. Harwood was the nephew of the last Harwood who owned Endview Plantation and the first cousin of Dr. Humphrey Harwood Curtis, . . . — Map (db m16564) |
| Virginia, Newport News — The Dairy Building — The Civil War at Endview — A living history museum |
| | In the South, dairy buildings were small structures, usually 14 feet square with a gable roof. The buildings’ overhanging eaves, louvered ventilators, and insulated walls were designed to keep the milk cool inside. Milk was placed in shallow tubs for approximately ten hours until the cream separated and rose to the surface. Slaves collected the cream and churned it into butter. Dairy buildings were a measure of affluence, as milk, butter, and cream were luxuries of the planter class. Sidebar: . . . — Map (db m16566) |
| Virginia, Newport News — The Endview Spring — The Civil War at Endview — A living history museum |
| | The fresh water bubbling from this natural spring has supported wildlife and the various residents on this property: Indian hunting parties, the Harwood/Curtis families, and military encampments. During the American Revolution, General George Washington’s soldiers stopped at Endview Plantation’s spring to quench their thirst on September 28, 1781. The Continental Army was advancing from Williamsburg to encircle the British garrison at Yorktown. According to family legend, the men drank so much . . . — Map (db m16563) |
| Virginia, Newport News — The Warwick River — 1862 Peninsula Campaign |
| | Overlooking one of the James River’s tributaries, Lee’s Mill is a watershed property with a long history of settlement. The Native Americans of the Powhatan Confederation hunted and fished along the banks of the Warwick River. During the 1600s, English settlers established tobacco plantations along the Warwick River and other major waterways. The tobacco harvests were floated down on barges to Hampton Roads for transatlantic shipment. The Warwick River and its marshes teemed with waterfowl, . . . — Map (db m11331) |
| Virginia, Newport News — The Warwick-Yorktown Line — 1862 Peninsula Campaign |
| | On May 24, 1861, Confederate Col. John Magruder assumed command of the Peninsula’s defenses. The Confederate capital at Richmond was only 80 miles from Fort Monroe, and “Prince John” Magruder did not have enough artillery or men to capture the Union stronghold. Instead, he fortified points along the James and York rivers to block any Union advance toward Richmond. From local reconnaissance, Magruder formulated plans for three lines of fortifications. The first defensive line went . . . — Map (db m11306) |
| Virginia, Newport News — Union Occupation — 1862 Peninsula Campaign |
| | The Battle of Lee’s Mill set the stage for an elaborate ruse as Gen. Magruder maneuvered his troops along the 12-mile line and created the illusion of double his numbers. Moreover, Gen. McClellan was daunted by the Confederate defenses and had siegeworks and 15 separate batteries for the heavy siege cannons and mortars erected between April 5 and May 4, 1862. Gen. Joseph Johnston arrived mid-April with three divisions that increased the Confederate force to 56,000. The only real battle occurred . . . — Map (db m11330) |
| Virginia, Newport News — Warwick Court House — Camp in the Wilderness — 1862 Peninsula Campaign |
| | “The office was full of books and papers. Some very old ones that had been written long before the Revolution by King George’s officers. A guard was over them but I was lucky and got a handful of deeds …. I have one written 1669 …. Shortly after I got mine a stop was put to taking any more.” - Eliza Hunt Rhodes, 2nd Rhode Island. The building directly in front of you is the 1810 structure known as Warwick Court House. To your right is Warwick County’s Confederate Monument. . . . — Map (db m10387) |
| Virginia, Newport News — Warwick Courthouse |
| | By tradition, early Warwick County court sessions were held under a large elm tree at nearby Richneck Plantation, home of Col. Miles Cary, Jr. In 1810, Warwick’s first brick courthouse was built on this Denbigh site. It also served as clerk’s office and jail. In 1884, a large courthouse was erected on the same tract, the clerk retaining the old building. Both served Warwick County (later city) until merger with the city of Newport News, July 1, 1958. — Map (db m11274) |
| Virginia, Newport News — W – 60 — Warwick Courthouse |
| | The clerk’s office was built in 1810, when Warwick Courthouse was moved here. — Map (db m11276) |
| Virginia, Newport News — Waters Creek — Dammed in 1930 |
| | Preface: Newport News was a small community located in Warwick County until late in the 19th century. Established as a town in 1880, it was incorporated as a city in 1896. Warwick County, one of the eight original Virginia shires formed by 1634, became extinct in 1952 when it was designated the city of Warwick. It merged with Newport News in 1958. In 1624, Governor Sir Francis Wyatt granted Edward Waters a patent for 100 acres between Waters Creek and Blunt Point. Waters had served on . . . — Map (db m13952) |
| Virginia, Newport News — Young’s Mill |
| | Since early colonial days Deep Creek has had a dam and pond here with a mill, owned by the Matthews, Digges and Young families, grinding corn well into the 20th century. In the Peninsula Campaign, Federal forces of Gen. McClellan encountered strong Confederate works nearby, the right flank of Gen. Magruder’s first line of defense. The works were abandoned April 5, 1862, for a resolute stand 6 miles farther north at Lee’s Mill. — Map (db m10209) |
| Virginia, Newport News — W 63 — Young’s Mill |
| | Following the 10 June 1861 Battle of Big Bethel, Confederate Gen. John B. Magruder established a base at Young’s Mill. This tide mill formed the right flank of Magruder’s First Defensive Line, which reached across the Peninsula to Ship’s Point on the York River. Extensive earthworks defended the crossing of the Warwick River over Deep Creek. When Union Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan began his Peninsula Campaign on 4 May 1862 to capture Richmond, elements of Brig. Gen. Erasmus D. Keyes IV Corps . . . — Map (db m10254) |
| Virginia, Newport News — Young’s Mill — Magruder’s First Peninsula Defensive Line — 1862 Peninsula Campaign |
| | The mill located behind you is one of the few remaining tide mills on the Peninsula. In the woods across the private road to your left are several redoubts and rifle pits. These fortifications are all that remain of the Confederate 1st Peninsula Defensive Line. Since the Colonial era, Deep Creek has had a dam and a pond here with a mill. The dam provided an important crossing over Deep Creek for the Great Warwick Road, a dirt roadway that connected Hampton, Newport News Point, and Warwick . . . — Map (db m10361) |
Subscribe
— Privacy Policy
— Terms of Use
— About Us
— Contact Us
HMdb.org