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★MARCH UP THE PENINSULA★★Fort Monroe – Largest moat encircled masonry fortifi-cation in America and an important Union base forcampaigns throughout the Civil War.

★FortWool –The companion fortification toFortMon-roe. The fort was used in operations against Confeder-ate-held Norfolk in 1861-1862.

★Hampton – Confederates burned this port townto block its use by the Federals on August 7, 1861.

• St. John’s Church – This church is the only survivingbuilding from the 1861 burning of Hampton.

•Big Bethel – This June 10, 1861, engagement wasthe first land battle of the Civil War.

★Monitor-Merrimack Overlook – Scene of theMarch 9, 1862, Battle of the Ironclads.

★Congress and Cumberland Overlook – Scene of theMarch 8, 1862, sinking of theUSSCumberland andUSSCongress by the ironclad CSS Virginia (Merrimack).

★St. Luke’s Church – Built in 1632, the church was aConfederate campground.

★Fort Boykin – This star fort was the southside anchorof the Warwick-Yorktown Line.

★Causey’s Mill – 1866 grist mill is located near the siteof the April 4, 1862 skirmish.

★Young’s Mill – The earthworks located near this1820 tide mill were part of Magruder’s defenses.

★Warwick Court House – Built in 1810, it served asIV Corps Commander Brig. Gen. Erasmus D. Keyes’headquarters. The gas balloon, Constitution, wasdeployed at this site.

★Battle of Lee’s Mill – These fortifications were thescene of the April 5, 1862, engagement which promptedMaj. Gen. George B. McClellan to besiegeMagruder’sWarwick-YorktownLine.

★Skiffes Creek – This redoubt is part of the SkiffesCreek Line, built to defend Magruder’s MulberryIsland-James River flank.

★Lee Hall – This antebellum mansion was used asa headquarters building by Confederate generalsJohn Bankhead Magruder and Joseph E. Johnston.

★BattleofDamNo.1 –ThisApril 16, 1862, engagementwasMcClellan’s only effort to break Magruder’s defenses.

★Endview – This 1760 house served as a Confederateand Union hospital.

★Lebanon Church – This 1859 church served as a Con-federate courier station and temporary headquartersfor U.S. Gen. W.F. Smith.

★Gloucester Point – Companion batteries to those atYorktown, these defenses helped block the York Riverto McClellan’s use during the Peninsula Campaign.

★Yorktown – A major link in Magruder’s 2nd PeninsulaDefensive Line and the focus of Maj. Gen. George B.McClellan’s siege April 5-May 3, 1862.

★Yorktown Waterfront – Once the Confederates aban-doned Yorktown it became a busy Union port.

★Redoubt 12 – Part of Magruder’s Williamsburg Line.

★Fort Magruder – The center of the Williamsburg (3rd)Defensive Line and the scene of fierce fighting duringthe Battle of Williamsburg.

★Williamsburg Line – These redoubts supported thedefense of Fort Magruder as well as repelling Unionattacks against the Confederate right during theMay 5, 1862, Battle of Williamsburg.

★Quarterpath Road – J.E.B. Stuart used this historicroad trace while acting as a rear guard for the retreating Confederate army.

★Wren Building – Confederate troops under Brig. Gen.Jubal Early encamped here prior to the May 5, 1862,Battle of Williamsburg.

• Jamestown Island – Fortified by Confederates in 1861to defend the James River approach to Richmond.

★New Kent Court House – Confederate and Uniontroops passed through here en route to Richmond.

★Drewry’s Bluff – Confederate batteries above theJames River repulse Union gun boats, including theMonitor, on May 15, 1862.

★Seven Pines – Scene of Joe Johnston’s attack againstMcClellan’s army on May 31, 1862.

•Dabbs House – Lee’s first headquarters (June 1862) ascommander of the Army of Northern Virginia.

★SEVEN DAYS BATTLES★★Chickahominy Bluffs – Served as jumping off pointfor Confederate advance into Mechanicsville.

★Beaver Dam Creek – On June 26, 1862, the Confeder-ate army unsuccessfully attacked the Union forcesat Ellerson’s Mill on Beaver Dam Creek.

★Gaines’Mill – The largest of theSevenDaysBattles,the Confederate forces struck Union troops underthe command of Brig. Gen. Fitz-John Porter.

★Savage’s Station – This June 29, 1862, engagementwas part of the Seven Days Battles.

★White Oak Swamp – “Stonewall” Jackson met strongUnion resistance here and failed to support Confeder-ate attacks at Glendale.

★Glendale – At this crossroads on June 30, 1862,Lee’s greatest attempt to destroy McClellan’s armyended in failure.

★Malvern Hill – This July 1, 1862, engagement was thelast of the Seven Days Battles.

★Harrison’s Landing (Berkeley Plantation) – ThePeninsula Campaign came to an end when McClellan’sarmy arrived at this position on the James River.

★ RELATED TIDEWATER SITES ★•Newport News POW Camp – Monument honors Con-federate prisoners who died in the nearby Union POWCamp at Camp Butler, April -July 1865.

★Gosport Navy Yard – The oldest U.S. Naval shipyard,it was here that the ironclad CSSVirginia (Merrimack)was created.

• Portsmouth Naval Hospital – Used by Confederateand Union armies, 1861-1865.

• Portsmouth’s Olde Towne Historic District – Revolu-tionary and Civil War homes can be found in thisone-square-mile historic district.

• Battle of Smithfield – Confederates repulse the Unionadvance onJanuary 31 andFebruary 1, 1864, destroyingthe Union gunboat, USS Smith-Briggs.

• Fort Norfolk – Occupied by both Confederate andUnion forces during the Civil War.

•Riddick’s Folly – This 1837GreekRevival homewasoccupied by Maj. Gen. J.J. Peck as his headquartersduring the 1863 Suffolk Siege.

• Siege of Suffolk – Lt. Gen. James Longstreet besiegedMaj. Gen. J.J. Peck’s 25,000 strong Union force inSuffolk from April 11-May 4, 1863.

•Dismal Swamp Canal – The oldest operating artificialwaterway in America, it provided access betweenthe Chesapeake Bay and the North Carolina Sounds.

• Village of Deep Creek – An important commercialcenter on the Great Dismal Swamp Canal.

• Village of Great Bridge – A strategic crossing of theAlbemarle and Chesapeake Canal.

• Pleasant Grove Baptist Church Cemetery –A monument to the “Jackson Grays,” honors theregiment that was formed on the churchyard byColonel William H. Stewart.

•Glencoe – Home of Lt. William Wallace, of the“Jackson Grays.”

•Piney Grove – Farmstead depicting domestic lifeduring the war.

•Gabriel Chapel & Cuffeytown Cemetery –African American church with graves of thirteenU.S. Colored Troops who fought in Tidewater, Va.

•Mahone Tavern – CS Gen. William Mahone’schildhood home.

•Blackwater Line – Strategic defense-line securingsupplies for Confederate Army.

Riddick’s Folly, an 1837 Greek Revival building, was used as aUnion hospital and headquarters of Maj. Gen. J.J. Peck during theSiege of Suffolk.

The Wren Building following the battle of Williamsburg, May 5, 1862. Watercolor by Lt. Robert K. Sneden, U.S. Topographical Engineers.

Confederate Water Battery, Gloucester Point.

“Battle between the Ironclads”

“Bird’s Eye View of Fortress Monroe”

“Encampment of U.S. Troops at Newport News, Virginia”

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Jubal A. EarlyBrigadier General, CSA

Peninsula Campaign Driving Route

Seven Days Battles Driving Route

Alternate Peninsula Campaign Driving Route

1862 Peninsula Campaign Site

Other Civil War Trails Site

National, State or County Park

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Gilded eagle from the pilot-house of the USS Smith-Briggs,captured on February 1, 1864,during theBattle of Smithfield.

George Edward PickettMajor General, CSA

Courtesy of The Museumof the Confederacy

Benjamin F. ButlerBrigadier General, USA

Courtesy of Isle of Wight Museum

THE 1862 PENINSULA CAMPAIGN★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

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When Virginia left the Union in April 1861, the control of Hampton Roads – with itsports, shipyards and forts –

became an important strategic goal forboth North and South. Fort Monroe be-came a major Union base while the Con-federacy sought to build a navy at GosportNaval Yard.

Brig. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler, was the first Federal commander to recognizethat the Peninsula provided a direct approach to Richmond. His efforts to expand Union control were thwarted byJohn Bankhead Magruder, CSA, and D.H.Hill, CSA, at Big Bethel on June 10, 1861. It was the Civil War’s first land battle.

George McClellan’s Peninsula Campaign resulted in the Union seizingcontrol of all of Hampton Roads. PresidentAbraham Lincoln personally oversaw the

The 1862 Peninsula Campaign is undoubtedly one of the Civil War’s most pivotal events.The Confederacy was reeling from defeats in the Mississippi region and along the NorthCarolina coast when Maj. Gen. George Brinton McClellan, USA, conceived a strategicplan to strike at Richmond by way of the Peninsula between the York and James rivers.

It was a sound concept enabling the Union to utilize its naval superiority to protect McClellan’sflanks and carry his troops. Yet this brilliant plan failed.

Even beforeMcClellan beganmoving his troops to the Peninsula, the emergence of the power-ful ironclad ram CSS Virginia (Merrimack) disrupted his plan. The Virginia blocked the JamesRiver and forced McClellan to concentrate on the York River. His path to Richmond, however, wasalso blocked by Maj. Gen. John Bankhead Magruder’s, CSA, fortifications at Yorktown and alongthe Warwick River. Magruder’s bluff of strength prompted McClellan to besiege the Confederatedefenses. The month’s delay was critical and contributed to the campaign’s ultimate downfall.

Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, CSA, moved his entire army down to the Peninsula in late April, but he abandoned the Warwick-Yorktown Line on May 3. Thus, McClellan’s elaborately planned

Lincoln’s fears for Washington’s safety caused McClellan to operate astride the Chicka-hominy River. This divided his army. Joe Johnston tried to destroy half of the Union army onMay 31 when he attacked McClellan at Seven Pines (Fair Oaks). The poorly coordinated assaultfailed and Johnstonwas seriouslywounded. The next day, Gen. Robert E. Lee assumed commandof the Confederate forces around Richmond.

Lee nowprepared for his offensive strike againstMcClellan. He sentMaj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart,CSA, on what became a spectacular ride around the Union army and then unleashed his troopsagainst Brig. Gen. Fitz-John Porter’s V Corps north of the Chickahominy. The SevenDays Battlesthus began with all of their fury at Beaver Dam Creek on June 26 and ended in the bloodbath at Malvern Hill on July 1, 1862. Richmond was saved, but Lee failed to win a decisive tactical victory as McClellan moved his army to the James River.

McClellan’s failure to capture Richmond caused the war to last three more bloody years.Yet, the campaign changed the course of American history as the war’s continuance trans-formed it into a crusade for freedom.

Williamsburg Visitor Center421 N. Boundary StreetWilliamsburg, Virginia 23185800-368-6511www.visitwilliamsburg.com

Yorktown National Park Visitor Service CenterP.O. Box 210Yorktown, Virginia 23690757-898-3400www.nps.gov/colo

“One cannot help reflecting on the changewroughtby timeandevents.Wherenowcrowdsof hardy soldiers refresh their tired frames bygambling in the luxuriously fresh waves ofthe James River, only twelve months ago thenobility and fashion of the South gatheredto enjoy the stillness and beauty of thescenery, and so the change ever goes on!”– Capt. Ole Peter Balley, New York Volunteers

FewTidewater residents realized in1861that within four years their agrarian eco-nomic systemwould shatter. Soon they would

find their homes andfields in ruin, theirslave work force lib-erated, their finan-cial resources de-pleted, and theirhomeland under mil-itary occupation.

Both sides rec-ognized HamptonRoads’ strategic importance and FortMonroe quickly became a Federalbastion within the

Confederacy. Ben Butler’s May 1861 decisionto consider slaves escaping into Union linesas “Contraband of War” was the Civil War’sfirst step toward it becoming a war to endslavery. As Fort Monroe and Camp Butlerbecame magnets for African-Americansseeking freedom, the Confederates burnedthe old colonial port town of Hampton tostop it from becoming a “safe harbor fortraitors and contrabands.”

By 1862most of the Tidewater region fellunder Union control. Commercial centers

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★TECHNOLOGY★ ★ ★ ★

Chesapeake, Franklin,Hampton, Newport News,Norfolk, Portsmouth, Richmond, Suffolk, Williamsburg, and the Counties of Charles City,Chesterfield, Gloucester,Hanover, Henrico, Isle of Wight, James City, New Kent, Southampton and York

For more information on other Virginia Civil WarTrails, call toll free:

Cover: “The Sinking of the ‘Cumberland’ by theIron Clad ‘Merrimac’ offNewport News, VA March 8,1862. The “Cumberland”went down with all herFlags flying: – destroyed but not conquered – Her gallant Commander Lieut.Morris calling to his crew‘Give them a Broadsideboys, as she goes.’”

Cover sketch Courtesy of Virginia War Museum

VIRGINIA CIVIL WAR TRAILS

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Major General John Bankhead Magruder, CSA

Commander, Army of the Peninsula

Divisional Commander, Army of Northern Virginia

General Joseph Eggleston Johnston, CSA

Commander, Department of PotomacAugust 1861-May 1862

General Robert E. Lee, CSA

Military Advisor to the President September 1861-June 1862

Commander, Army of Northern Virginia June 1862-April 1865

★ ★ ★

capture of Norfolk and Portsmouth in May 1862. The vital canals linking the Chesa-peake Bay with North Carolina soon fell under Union command. A critical shipbuild-ing, transportation and agricultural areahad been lost to the South’s use in the Penin-sula Campaign’s wake.

Even though the Union maintained a firm grip on the Tidewater region duringthe next three years, the Confederacy nevergave up hope of liberating the area. Lt. Gen.James Longstreet with Maj. Gen. John BellHood, CSA, and Maj. Gen. George Pickett,CSA, attempted to recapture Suffolk in the spring of 1863. The resulting siege onlyenabled the Confederacy to obtain food supplies from the surrounding rich agricul-tural area.

Smithfield was the only Tidewater townto remain in Confederate hands throughoutthe war. The Federals launched one attemptto capture the town using the gunboat USSSmith-Briggs early in 1864. It failed as localsoldierswere able to destroy theSmith-Briggs.

likePortsmouth, Suffolk, andGreatBridgethrived economically under Union occupa-tion. Other towns did not. Williamsburg’sWren Building was burned and desolationremained throughout the countryside inthe wake of the passing armies.

“How changed everything was on our return.... A good many of the housesgone, the fields uncultivated and coveredwith shrubbery, fences burned, orchardsdestroyed and everything laid waste.” – George Ben West

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The Civil War was the world’s firstmodern war due in part to the introduction of new technology.Many of these new machines of

war were first seen in combat during thePeninsula Campaign.

The first battle between the ironclads,the USS Monitor and CSS Virginia (Merri-mack), on March 9, 1862, changed navalwarfare forever. No longer would woodensailing ships rule the waves – ironclads became the key to naval superiority.

Jack LaMountain’s balloons had already appeared over Hampton Roads inthe summerof 1861,whenMcClellanbroughtwith him Thaddeus S.C. Lowe, Chief Aero-naut of the Army of the Potomac. Lowe’stwo gas balloons, the Intrepid and the Constitution, were launched almost dailyduring the 1862 Warwick-Yorktown Siege toobserve Confederate defenses. The South-erners responded with their own crude hotair balloon. They also introduced the firstanti-aircraft guns as Col. E.P. Alexander,CSA, elevated his artillery to send shot and shell against Union aerial observers.When the Confederates retreated from

their defenses they left behind Brig. Gen.Gabriel Rains’, CSA, land mines. This inno-vative anti-personnel weapon slowed theUnion advance but also caused indignationin both theNorth and theSouth.

McClellan’s army on the Peninsula wasone of the most well-equipped in history.His 103 siege guns were among the most ad-vanced and powerful weapons in the world.More heavy artillery was aimed on York-town than had ever been massed in a singlespot to that time in world history. Severalof his units were also equipped with thenovel Ager Gun. Deployed at Lee’s Mill, theso-called coffee mill gun became the firstrapid-fire gun to see combat in America.

The Civil War witnessed the introduc-tion of new weapons and other industrialtechnology that changed warfare foreverand helped to make this conflict the bloodi-est in our nation’s history.

McClellan’s army landed at Fort Monroe and in April began its advance up the Peninsula, clashing with the Confederates at Dam No. 1, laying siege to Yorktown and fighting battles at Williamsburg and Hanover Court House. By the end of May, the Federals were only six milesfrom Richmond. But then Johnston’s Confederate army struck back with a massive attack at Seven Pines.

Brigadier General Edwin Vose Sumner, USACommander, II Corps, Army of the Potomac

Brigadier General Erasmus Darwin Keyes, USA

Commander, IV Corps, Army of the Potomac

Major General George Brinton McClellan, USA

Commander, Army of the Potomac

Lee Hall Mansion was built in the 1850sby Richard Decauter Lee and was usedas headquarters by Magruder and

Johnston during the Peninsula Campaign.

Taps Window, Chapel of Centurion,

Fort Monroe

The casemate in which former Confederate president Jefferson Davis was held prisoner following the war.

Portion of Rebel battery at Wynn’s Mill. The gun which wounded Lt. Wagner, Topographical Engineer.

Sketch by Alfred Waud.

Courtesy of Virginia War Museum

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ate Museum

Courtesy of Virginia War Museum

Sidney Lanier, the Poet Laureate of the Confederacy,

served at Fort Boykin from 1861 to 1862.

Courtesy of Library of Virginia

Ben Butler and the “Contrabands”

Courtesy of Casem

ate Museum

Copyright Virginia Historical Society, 1997

Front view of St. John’s Church, Hampton, Virginia. Destroyed with the whole town by the Rebels under Gen. Magruder. Watercolor by Lt. Robert Sneden.

Remodeling the “Merrimack”

Professor T.S.C. Lowe’s balloons Intrepid and Constitution.Professor T.S.C. Lowe’s balloons and .

Brigadier General Philip Kearny

May 5, 1862, Battle of Williamsburg, Kurtz & Allison

Lt. General James Longstreet,Commander of Confederaterear-guard at Williamsburg and during the April-May1863 Siege of Suffolk.

Courtesy of the Library of Congress

assault had no one to destroy. McClellan attempted to cut off the Confederate retreat. The bloodyMay 5 rear guard action at Williamsburg and a flanking move with Brig. Gen. William B. Franklin’s,USA, division up the York River to Eltham’s Landing on May 6 both failed to achieve their objectives.The armies then continued their slow march through the rain and mud toward Richmond.

The Confederate retreat caused Norfolk to be evacuated on May 9. The Virginia (Merrimack), deprived of its base, was destroyed by its crew on May 11. The James River door to Richmond was nowopen, but only temporarily, as the Union fleet, including the ironclads USS Monitor and USS Galena,was stopped on May 15 by Confederate batteries at Drewry’s Bluff.

Courtesy of Casem

ate Museum

Carrie B. Harbor Tour6 Crawford Pkwy.Portsmouth, Virginia 23704757-393-4735www.carriebcruises.com

Casemate Museum20 Bernard RoadFort Monroe, Virginia 23651757-788-3391

Chesapeake Conventions and Tourism900 Greenbrier CircleChesapeake, Virginia 23320888-889-5551www.visitchesapeake.com

City of Franklin207 W. Second AvenueFranklin, Virginia 23851757-562-8506www.franklinva.com

Gloucester Tourism6509 Main StreetGloucester, Virginia 23061866-VISITUSwww.gloucesterva.info

Hampton Visitor Center/History Museum120 Old Hampton LaneHampton, Virginia 23669800-800-2202www.hamptoncvb.com

The Mariners’ Museum100 Museum DriveNewport News, Virginia 23606800-581-7245www.mariner.org

Newport News Visitor Information Center13560 Jefferson AvenueNewport News, Virginia 23603888-493-7386www.newport-news.org

Norfolk Convention and Visitors Bureau232 E. Main StreetNorfolk, Virginia 23510800-368-3097www.norfolkcvb.com

Portsmouth Visitor Information Center6 Crawford Pkwy.Portsmouth, Virginia 23704800-PORTSVAwww.ci.portsmouth.va.us

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum2 High StreetPortsmouth, Virginia 23704757-393-8591www.portsnavalmuseums.com

Richmond National BattlefieldParkCivil War Visitor CenterTredegar & Fifth Sts.Richmond, Virginia 23219804-771-2145www.nps.gov/rich

Smithfield and Isle of Wight Visitor Center335 Main StreetSmithfield, Virginia 23431800-365-9339www.smithfield-virginia.com

Suffolk Visitor Center321 N. Main StreetSuffolk, Virginia 23434866-SEE-SUFKwww.suffolk.va.us

Virginia War Museum9285 Warwick BoulevardNewport News, Virginia 23607757-247-8523www.warmuseum.org

THE CIVIL WAR REVISITED★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★How to use this Guide

The main part of this guide suggests a driving tour that follows the roads and describes the events associated with thefirst serious campaign against the Con-federate capital in Richmond. Follow the“Blue Line” tour that highlights some ofthe best known events in American histo-ry such as the “Battle of the Ironclads” in Hampton Roads. Travel the roads thesoldiers used as they marched ever-so-slowly toward Richmond over the swampyground of the Virginia Peninsula. Visit the battlefields in Newport News andWilliamsburg and end the campaign in thesuburbs of Richmond, where new Confed-erate commander Robert E. Lee turnedback the Union threat.Visit the fine muse-ums and historic houses along the way,including Lee Hall, the tour headquarters,and the Mariners’ Museum, now conserv-ing parts of the famous ironclad, the USS Monitor. Tour north or south of theJames River through Gloucester, Smith-field, Suffolk, Chesapeake and Franklin.Discover Old Towne Portsmouth andnear-forgotten Civil War sites in Norfolk.

For more detailed travel information,stop by any Virginia Welcome Center orlocal/regional visitor center or contact anyof the attractions or visitor bureaus listedin this guide. For additional Civil War Trailsinformation, visitwww.CivilWarTrails.org.For more Virginia travel information, see www.Virginia.org.

1.888.CIVILWAR

© 2004Virginia Civil War Trails, Inc.

Brochure Design by Com

munication Design, Inc., Richmond, VA

www.civilwartrails.org

Follow these signs to more than

500 Civil War sites in Virginia, Marylandand North Carolina

Travelers enjoy one of the colorful, interpretive markers along the trail.

The following further explore and expand upon the story of the Civil War:

Portsmouth Naval Hospital was completed in1830. This Greek Revival structure was used by

both Confederate and Union forces.

Courtesy of U

.S. Army Military History Institute