The Civil War on Fort Eustis

The Civil War on Fort Eustis. . , There are twelve field fortifications on Fort Eustis. Field fortifications are earthen defensive positions placed to protect soldiers during combat. The field fortifications on Fort Eustis are associated with the 1861-1862 Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War. They are part of the Warwick-Yorktown line developed by Confederate Major General (MG) John B. Magruder. Magruder's goal was to prevent or at least slow down the U.S. Army's advance from Fort Monroe at the eastern end of the James-York peninsula to the Confederate capitol at Richmond. The Warwick-Yorktown line was built over the winter of 1861-1862. One aspect of the field fortifications directed by the Confederates, built mainly with enslaved labor, is that they closely followed the designs laid out in Colonel Dennis Hart Mahan's Treatise on Field Fortifications., The largest of the fortifications on Mulberry Island is now called Fort Crafford (pronounced Crawford). This eight-acre bastioned fort was a "covering work." It protected the Mulberry Island Point Battery. The battery's purpose was to work in concert with Fort Huger across the James River to prevent the US Navy from using the James River to assault Richmond. In May of 1862, the Confederates retreated towards Richmond and the war moved on to other parts of Virginia.