| Virginia, Suffolk — UT 28 — Civil War Cavalry Skirmish |
| | Federal forces occupied Suffolk on 12 May 1862 and built earthworks around the town; Brig. Gen. John J. Peck took command in October. Cavalry vedettes, or mounted pickets, were posted some distance outside the fortifications to warn of Confederate attacks. During the winter of 1862-1863, small detachments of Federal and Confederate troops harassed each other west of Suffolk. Near here, about 4:00 P.M. on 28 Dec. 1862, Confederate cavalrymen attacked Union vedettes at Providence Church and drove . . . — Map (db m18152) |
| Virginia, Suffolk — K-249 — Dumpling Island |
| | The ceremonial heart of the Nansemond Indian district stood a mile east on Dumpling Island in the Nansemond River. In 1608, Capt. John Smith led colonists upriver to obtain corn from the Nansemonds, who attacked but were defeated and forced to feed them. The next summer, anticipating what was later called the “starving time” Smith transferred Capt. John Martin and 60 of the Jamestown colonists to the Island. After his advance party disappeared, Martin attacked the Nansemonds, looted . . . — Map (db m2671) |
| Virginia, Suffolk — Z-235 — Nansemond County / Norfolk County |
| | Nansemond County. Area 423 Square Miles. Formed in 1637 from New Norfolk County, it was first called Upper Norfolk County, but in 1642 it was named Nansemond for an Indian Tribe. Dismal Swamp is partly in this county.
Norfolk County. Area 415 Square Miles. Formed in 1637, when New Norfolk County was divided into Upper Norfolk and Lower Norfolk. The name is that of an English County. The battle of Great Bridge, 1775, took place in this county, and in the waters near . . . — Map (db m2789) |
| Virginia, Suffolk — U-128 — Nansemond County Training School |
| | Two miles south stood the Nansemond County training School, he first high school in the county for African American students. It was constructed in 1924 with $5,000 contributed by African American families, $11,500 in public money, and $1,500 from the Rosenwald Fund established in 1917 to build schools for African American students in the rural South. The building, with seven classrooms and one auditorium, contained an elementary and secondary school. Hannibal E. Howell was its first principal, . . . — Map (db m22945) |
| Virginia, Suffolk — Z-273 — Nansemond County Virginia |
| | Area 423 Square Miles
Formed in 1637 from New Norfolk County. It was first called Upper Norfolk County; but in 1642 it was named Nansemond for an Indian Tribe. Dismal Swamp is partly in this County. — Map (db m2784) |
| Virginia, Suffolk — K250 — Nansemond Indian Villages |
| | The principal villages of the Nansemond Indians stood just east of here on the Nansemond River. The Nansemonds fought frequently with the English colonists who arrived in 1607 as the Indians resisted the newcomers’ attempts to occupy their villages and seize their corn. Two major periods of hostility occurred in 1609 and again after Opechancanough’s coordinated assault on the English settlements on 22 Mar. 1622–1632. Sir George Yeardley retaliated for the assault by burning the Nansemond . . . — Map (db m2672) |
| Virginia, Suffolk — K-261 — Pig Point Battery |
| | In June 1861, Union Maj.Gen. Benjamin F. Butler, in order to clear a route for the capture of Suffolk, sought to neutralize the Confederate battery at Pig Point three miles north on the James River at the mouth of the Nansemond River. At 9:00 a.m. on 5 June, the steamer USS Harriet Lane shelled the battery. The Portsmouth Rifles, manning the guns there, returned fire and struck the vessel twice. One shot hit a tub of musket balls; the flying balls wounded six men. No Confederates were . . . — Map (db m2790) |
| Virginia, Suffolk — Riddick’s Folly — Avant-Garde Greek Revival Masterpiece |
| | The restored Greek Revival house before you is Riddick’s Folly. It was constructed in 1837 by Mills Riddick, a grandson of local Revolutionary War hero Willis Riddick. Mill’s contemporaries soon ridiculed the house and labeled the building “Riddick’s Folly” due to its enormous size – 21 rooms and 16 fireplaces – and its avant garde Greek Revival architecture. The structure’s distinctive design features Flemish gables, five eyebrow windows just below the eaves and . . . — Map (db m18122) |
| Virginia, Suffolk — Siege of Suffolk — Bacon for the Confederacy |
| | The monument before you was erected in 1889 by Col. Thomas W. Smith in honor of his Confederate “comrades.” Smith had served as a 2nd Lt. in the local unit, “Marion Rangers,” which was assigned as Co. A, 16th Virginia Infantry, Mahone’s Brigade, during the Civil War.
The town of Suffolk was of considerable strategic importance during the Civil War. On May 12, 1862, Col. Charles C. Dodge’s 1st New York Mounted Rifles rode into Suffolk and began the Union occupation . . . — Map (db m18123) |
| Virginia, Suffolk — K 252 — Siege of Suffolk |
| | The town was occupied by Union Troops from May, 1862, until the end of the Civil War. Confederate forces under Longstreet unsuccessfully besieged Suffolk, from April 11, to May 3, 1863, when they withdrew across the James on Lee's orders. — Map (db m18149) |
| Virginia, Suffolk — K 259 — Siege of Suffolk |
| | Across the road here ran the main line of Confederate works, built by Longstreet besieging Suffolk, April, 1863. He abandoned the siege and rejoined Lee at Fredericksburg. — Map (db m18151) |
Subscribe
— Privacy Policy
— Terms of Use
— About Us
— Contact Us
HMdb.org