Fort Magruder

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Fort Magruder monument.

Fort Magruder was an 30-foot (9.1 m) high earthen fortification straddling the road between Yorktown and Williamsburg, Virginia, just outside the latter city (and former Virginia state capital) during the American Civil War. At the center of the Williamsburg Line, it was also referred to as Redoubt Number 6, and was strategic in defending Williamsburg during the Peninsula Campaign in 1862 due to its location near the junction of the two roads that led east to Yorktown and Lee's Mill. It became a key point duirng the Battle of Williamsburg on May 5, 1862.

1 Peninsula Campaign, General Magruder
2 Williamsburg Line
3 Battle of Williamsburg
4 Preservation
5 Trivia
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Peninsula Campaign, General Magruder

During the American Civil War, the Peninsula Campaign was a major Union operation launched in southeastern Virginia from March through July 1862, the first large-scale offensive in the Eastern Theater. The operation, commanded by Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, was an amphibious turning movement intended to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond by moving up (west) the Virginia Peninsula from Fort Monroe at the eastern tip near the entrance to Hampton Roads to Richmond, about 75 miles (121 km) away.

The Confederate Army of the Peninsula was the primary defensive force, and was commanded by Brig. Gen. John B. "Prince John" Magruder, a popular leader who had held back Union forces in the area beginning in 1861. At the time the Army of the Potomac arrived at Fort Monroe in early 1862, only Magruder's 13,000 men faced them on the Peninsula. The Confederate strategy of the early portion of the Peninsula Campaign became one of delays, providing vital time for defenses to be built outside Richmond. General Magruder had been an amateur actor, and was successful in the early stages of the Peninsula Campaign partially by using elaborate ruse tactics to appear to have a much larger force than he actually had. Stephen Sears, the author of the To The Gates of Richmond, described the demonstrations of his limited troops, which included marching back and forth behind the lines with great fanfare to appear to be a larger force, as "performances of the Prince John Players." Magruder's efforts appeared to have the desired effect, as the ever-cautious McClellan moved very slowly with his forces, which were actually substantially larger than the those of the defenders. Meanwhile, a long defensive line was being built outside Richmond.

Fort Magruder, actually an elaborate but earthen fortification, was named for General Magruder. It was the keystone of the Williamsburg Line, a third cross peninsula set of works located west of the Warwick Line, the second, which was anchored by Mulberry Island, the Warwick River, and Yorktown.

[edit] Williamsburg Line

The Williamsburg Line was a line of defensive fortifications across the Virginia Peninsula east of Williamsburg anchored by College Creek (a tributary of the James River on the south and Queen's Creek, a tributary of the York River on the north. A series of 14 redoubts were built along the line, with Fort Magruder (Redoubt Number 6) at the center at a key location.^[1] The concept was surely not a new one. To defend against attacks of the Native Americans, in 1632, the people of the Virginia Colony had constructed a line of palisades across the six miles (10 km) of land between the same two creeks, although it was slightly to the west, and also long gone by 1862. The earlier palisade had been anchored by a small fortified settlement which was named Middle Plantation. In 1699, it had been renamed Williamsburg.

Colonel Benjamin S. Ewell, leader of the 32nd Virginia Infantry had been trained as a civil engineer at the United States Military Academy at West Point and most recently serving as the President of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg. He had moved to the area in 1848, and lived nearby at a farm in James City County a few miles west of the old colonial capital city.

In 1861, Colonel Ewell had formed the 32nd Virginia from several local militia units from Elizabeth City County, Warwick County, York County, and James City County.^[2] He was charged by General Magruder with the development and construction of the Williamsburg Line.

In early May, General Magruder quietly withdrew his forces from the Warwick Line, and, electing not to defend the Williamsburg Line, withdrew towards Richmond. The Williamsburg Line would be critical, albeit for a short time, in delaying a pursuit by the Union Army, giving the Confederates time to move west on the poor roads of the sandy Tidewater terrain. About 24 hours later, McClellan discovered the move, and troops were soon moving towards Williamsburg on the only two main roads west, the Lee's Mill and Yorktown-Williamsburg Roads, which converged about 600 feet (180 m) south-east of Fort Magruder.

[edit] Battle of Williamsburg

On May 5, 1862, Fort Magruder was a major point of the first heavy conflict of the Peninsula Campaign. Nearly 32,000 Confederates and 41,000 Union fought during the Battle of Williamsburg, which is considered by military historians to have been inconclusive. The point at which the fort was built had the strategic topographical advantage of being a very narrow piece of land, bounded on the west by Tutters Neck Pond and on the east by Cubb's creek, restricting access to the town of Williamsburg beyond.

There were 3,800 Union and Confederate casualties.

For more details on this topic, see Battle of Williamsburg.

[edit] Preservation

The former site of Fort Magruder is located about 1-mile (1.6 km) east of the restored area of Colonial Williamsburg off Penniman Road, which is the James City County-York County boundary line in the immediate vicinity. A monument, erected by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, surrounded by a small grassy area, is located on the southeast side of Penniman Road near the intersection of Queen's Creek Road. None of the original earthworks remain. The fenced-in site is not currently open to the public.

In early 2006, Riverside Health System donated 22 acres of the 350 acres (1.4 km²) of land that it had bought from Colonial Williamsburg in 2004, to create a public park. The land, in James City County about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south of Fort Magruder (towards the James River), includes two redoubts that were part of the Williamsburg Line of defensive works.

[edit] Trivia

Penniman Road largely follows the northern portion of the Old Williamsburg Road, which led from Yorktown. Much of the former southern portion is on the property of the U.S. Naval Weapons Station Yorktown, where the lost towns of Lackey and Penniman were located during before and during World War I, respectively.

Fort Magruder is sometimes confused with the lost town of Magruder, Virginia, which prior to 1942 was located in a now-restricted area of Camp Peary in York County.