Appomattox Overlook

Appomattox Overlook. R. Garland Dodd Park at Point of Rocks. John Smith and some fellow Englishmen made an exploratory trip up the James River just weeks after settling at Jamestown, passing by the high rock cliff that projects into the channel of the Appomattox River near its confluence with the James. The bluff, known as Point of Rocks, lies just east of R. Garland Dodd Park. Smith's Map of Virginia shows an Appomattox Indian town nearby and indicates the tribe's capital upstream near modern Colonial Heights., In 1612, John Smith listed the Appomattox tribe as one of the six over which Powhatan inherited control. By the time Smith met Powhatan, however, the paramount chief had expanded his influence throughout eastern Virginia. Captured in late 1607, Smith was brought to Powhatan's capital on the York River, Werowocomoco, where according to Smith's later accounts, the queen of the Appomattox helped tend to him. Smith attributed his release to the please of Powhatan's daughter, Pocahontas, but many historians agree that Powhatan hoped to make Smith a loyal chief over Jamestown., (sidebar) , The Army of the James, During the American Civil War, the Confederate Army maintained a signal station on the high plateau at Point of Rocks. On May 6, 1864, Union Gen. Benjamin Butler's Army of the James landed at Bermuda Hundred, four miles east on the James River. They quickly overran the signal station. With the goal of advancing to Richmond, Butler headquartered at Point of Rocks., The Army of the James faltered in the face of Confederates after first crossing Ashton Creek that evening. On May 7, however, Butler's troops gained enough ground to begin dismantling the railroad line that ran between Richmond and Petersburg., Confederate resistance led by Gen. Johnson Hagood attempted to halt the Union advance but had little success until May 16. The Confederacy orchestrated a counterattack that forced the Union troops back to fortifications near their naval resupply point at Bermuda Hundred., The Confederate forces quickly entrenched themselves in a line running three miles from the James River to the Appomattox River. Surrounded by the winding rivers on three sides, Butler's army was held at bay. This enabled the Confederacy to re-establish railroad supply lines, prolonging the war by almost a year.