Historical Markers and War Memorials in Varina, Virginia
Location of Varina, Virginia
► Henrico County(310) ► Charles City County(65) ► Chesterfield County(214) ► Goochland County(33) ► Hanover County(275) ► New Kent County(57) ► Powhatan County(26) ► Richmond(467)
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In April 1862, Union Gen. George B. McClellan began marching his huge Army of the Potomac west up the Peninsula between the James and York Rivers from Fort Monroe to Richmond, the Confederate capital. Gen. John B. Magruder’s forces delayed the . . . — — Map (db m54252) HM
On 16 Aug. 1864, Federal infantry stormed Confederate earthworks nearby, in the Second Battle of Deep Bottom. The 39th Illinois helped lead the assault. Pvt. Henry M. Hardenbergh, of Bremen Township, the color bearer, served in Co. G, called the . . . — — Map (db m161184) HM
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For almost ten months beginning in mid-June 1864, the Army of the Potomac besieged the cities of Petersburg and Richmond from the east and south. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant ordered the Union fortifications extended west of . . . — — Map (db m164454) HM
On 28 September 1864, elements of Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler’s Army of the James crossed the James River to assault the Confederate defenses of Richmond. At dawn on 29 September, 6 regiments of U.S. Colored Troops fought with exceptional valor . . . — — Map (db m166160) HM
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Curvy Course
Navigating the curving meanders of the river above Jamestown was tedious for boaters in John Smith’s day. Too difficult to sail, men had to row through long stretches known as the oxbows. Yet the colonists . . . — — Map (db m97344) HM
Fourmile Creek flows into the slender oxbow of the James River here. Oxbows, successive curvatures in the river’s course, forced Smith and his men to row long distances on their exploratory trip upstream. Navigating the sharp turns was very . . . — — Map (db m24815) HM
Nearby stood one of the outer Confederate defensive lines that guarded Richmond during the Civil War (1861-1865). A series of earthworks and fortifications was built to protect the city and to allow the outnumbered Confederates to make maximum use . . . — — Map (db m54251) HM
On the night of 26-27 July 1864, a Union battle group led by Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock crossed the James River on pontoon bridges a mile south. Hancock intended to attack Confederate defenses below Richmond while the primary Federal force in . . . — — Map (db m24993) HM
In 1611 John Rolfe became the first Englishman to cultivate tobacco nearby at Varina Farm, on the James River. Rolfe planted seeds bred in Varinas, Spain, and experimented with curing methods to produce a tobacco milder than the native variety. The . . . — — Map (db m16182) HM
To the right of this road was Fort Gilmer, successfully defended against Federal assaults and held until the eve of the evacuation of Richmond. Kershaw's Division, the last Confederate infantry to leave the Richmond line, abandoned Fort Gilmer at 3 . . . — — Map (db m164416) HM
Six hundred yards West of this road stood the Confederate Fort Harrison. It was stormed Sept. 29, 1864 after a surprise-attack by Federal troops and was held against counter attacks the next day. New Confederate defensive lines were drawn in rear of . . . — — Map (db m14230) HM
Fort Harrison served as one of the principal works in Richmond's defenses during the Civil War. On 29 Sept. 1864, Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler's Army of the James launched a two-pronged attack against Richmond's defenses as Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant . . . — — Map (db m16181) HM
After capturing Fort Harrison on September 29, 1864, Union General Edward O.C. Ord directed an attack southward down the Confederate line toward forts Hoke and Maury. If these Confederate defenses fell, the direct road to Richmond along the Osborne . . . — — Map (db m46915) HM
The Baptist Church of Christ on Four Mile Creek was constituted at Clayton Springs on the 5th of August, 1781. In 1828, church members moved the meeting house four miles west to its present location. In the fall of 1864, Union troops occupied the . . . — — Map (db m24857) HM
By November 1864, several thousand African American soldiers, designated as United States Colored Troops or USCT, held Fort Harrison and the nearby earthworks. Many of these men had survived the bloody combat at New Market Heights, Fort Gilmer, and . . . — — Map (db m164295) HM
Irving L. Haggins, an African American, born in 1934, designed his one-of-a kind home in 1956. This self-taught architect and contractor built it in 1967. Inspired by modernist architect Frank Lloyd Wright's work, it combines unusual organic forms . . . — — Map (db m53975) HM
Following a successful case before the Virginia Court of Appeals in 1777, the slaves of John Pleasants were allowed to follow the dictates of his 1771 will and were freed. His son, Robert Pleasants then gave seventy-eight former slaves 350 acres of . . . — — Map (db m17693) HM
In 1611, Sir Thomas Dale established the second English settlement in the Virginia Colony. Dale named the town Henrico in honor of Henry, Prince of Wales. In 1612, Virginia’s economy was transformed when John Rolfe introduced a new form of tobacco . . . — — Map (db m95893) HM
Sir Thomas Dale established the original Henrico Parish Church at Henricus, 4½ miles southeast of here, in 1611. The first minister, the Reverend Alexander Whitaker, has been credited with converting Pocahontas to Christianity. Other noteworthy . . . — — Map (db m24848) HM
John Rolfe emigrated from England to Virginia in 1610 and settled in what was to become Henrico County. In 1612 he imported tobacco seeds from Trinidad and cultivated a new strain of mild tobacco. He shipped part of his harvest to England in 1614, . . . — — Map (db m25010) HM
Early in May 1864, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant hoped to end the Civil War by attacking Confederate armies simultaneously throughout the South. The commander in chief of all U.S. armies, Grant, accompanied Gen. George G. Meade’s Army of the Potomac as it . . . — — Map (db m54253) HM
On May 15, 1862 a small federal fleet including the ironclads, the Monitor, the Galena, and three wooden war ships sailed up the James River to try to enter the Confederate capital at Richmond. Their efforts were blocked at Drewry’s Bluff by . . . — — Map (db m16304) HM
(preface)
For almost ten months beginning in mid-June 1864, the Army of the Potomac besieged the cities of Petersburg and Richmond from the east and south. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant ordered the Union fortifications extended west of Petersburg . . . — — Map (db m160054) HM
(preface)
For almost ten months beginning in mid-June 1864, the Army of the Potomac besieged the cities of Petersburg and Richmond from the east and south. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant ordered the Union fortifications extended west Petersburg and . . . — — Map (db m90633) HM
Osborne Landing was located near here along the north bank of the James River across from the Village of Osborne in Chesterfield County. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries a ferry operated nearby and the landing was a regular stopping point for . . . — — Map (db m16303) HM
The Arrohateck Indians lived along the James River north of the Appomattox. They met Smith and his comrades on their initial journey up the James, paddling out to meet the English on a small island. “In the midway staying to refresh our selves . . . — — Map (db m16336) HM
To the North was the Confederate Fort Gilmer, attacked but not captured, Sept. 29,1864. Southward, earthworks centering around Fort Harrison extended to James River. These protected Chaffin's Bluff which, with Drewry's Bluff opposite it, guarded the . . . — — Map (db m14253) HM
Running Southeastward and then Southwestward. A Confederate earthwork, three miles long, here crossed the Darbytown Road. This fortification was designed to cover the Main Outer Line, with which it connected, one mile North of this point. — — Map (db m14255) HM
The eastern face of the Outer Line of the Confederate defences of Richmond, which here crossed the Darbytown Road, extended Southward from the heights of the Chickahominy to Chaffin's Bluff on James River, a distance of about 11 miles. — — Map (db m14256) HM
On 16 August 1864 Confederate Brig. Gen. John R. Chambliss, Jr., was killed near here attempting to evade capture during the Second Battle of Deep Bottom. As troops of the 16th Pennsylvania Cavalry removed his epaulets, sash, and saber, Union Brig. . . . — — Map (db m18503) HM
About noon on 16 Aug. 1864, Union Brig. Gen. Alfred H. Terry, with almost 5,000 men in four brigades, attacked the Confederate line over this ground. In a brief yet vicious struggle, Terry's men broke through 400 yards west of here. During the . . . — — Map (db m16179) HM
Dairy farming became the new agricultural industry in Henrico County during the period following the Civil War. As early as 1880, there were 2,181 milk cows in the county. By the early 20th century, agriculturists boasted Henrico as the . . . — — Map (db m115645) HM
You are located on a tract of land formerly owned by the Frayser family. This was the home of Jesse Frayser (1764-1827) and his wife Keziah Frayser (1761-1854). Jesse Frayser was a private in the Virginia Militia under the command of General Gates . . . — — Map (db m101376) HM
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The War of 1812
Impressment of Americans into British service and the violation of American ships were among the causes of America’s War of 1812 with the British, which lasted until 1815. Beginning in 1813, Virginians . . . — — Map (db m95890) HM
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