Tidewater Virginia

Last Update: 27/SEPTEMBER/2007

Mathias Point Battery
(1861), Dahlgren
A partial earthwork battery that was constructed by the Union Navy to prevent the Confederates from fortifying this point on the Potomac River, but were driven off before construction was complete. The site was not used thereafter by the Confederates, due to constant shelling by the Navy.

Lambs Creek Archaeological Site
(1300 - 1500), near Popcastle
A Late Woodland Period palisaded Indian town located on Lamb's Creek at the Rappahannock River. Site excavated in 1965. This site may correspond with the minor Rappahannock Indian town Sockobeck which was noted on John Smith's map of 1608.

Clifts Plantation Fort
(1658 - unknown), Stratford
A palisaded farmhouse, with two bastions, built by Nathaniel Pope. Probably palisaded in 1676 during Bacon's Rebellion. Site excavated in the 1970's, located near Stratford Hall's mill. Stratford Hall was built in 1725.

Yeocomico Fort
(1667 - unknown), near Kinsale (?)
A VA colonial militia fort was built in the area for Indian defense.

Mundy's Point Battery
(1814), Mundy's Point
A local militia fort at the mouth of the Yeocomico River. Attacked by the British in August 1814.

Richard Coleman's Fort
(1652 - unknown), Layton
A settlement and trading post was established on Colemans Creek at the Rappahannock River in Essex County. A church was established in 1660.

Rappahannock Indian Fort ?
(1676 - 1683), Indian Neck
A Rappahannock Indian palisaded defense against the Susquehannock Indians from the north and also against hostile English settlers during Bacon's Rebellion. The colonial government and/or militia may have had a hand in its construction and/or defense. The colonial government granted the tribe a 4000-acre reservation here in 1682. Seneca Indians from the north attacked and destroyed the poorly defended fort in 1683, ultimately forcing the Rappahannocks to leave in 1684.

Fort Lowry
(1861 - 1864), near Wares Wharf
Located on the Rappahannock River at Lowry's Point. This was an eight-gun water battery built to prevent Union gunboats from proceeding to Fredericksburg. Union forces destroyed it a month after the Confederates abandoned it in March 1862. It was later rebuilt and remained in limited use. Confederate cavalry Camp Byron (1861) was nearby in Dunnsville before the troopers moved to the fort in October 1861 to assist in its defense. The site of the fort was never preserved, and the area is swampy.

Fort at Ball's Point
(Millenbeck Archaeological Site)
(1667 - unknown), Millenbeck
A colonial militia fort, also used during Bacon's Rebellion in 1676 by government forces opposed to Bacon's rebels. Traces still remain.
Nearby is the site of the Hannah Ball homestead (1680's), great-grandmother of George Washington.

Windmill Point Battery
(1813 - 1814), near Westland or Foxwells
A local militia field battery, attacked by the British in 1814.

Cricket Hill Fort
(1776), Cricket Hill
A state militia earthwork battery built in June 1776 to attack Governor Dunmore's stockaded camp of refuge on Gwynn's Island before he was evicted from the state. Lord Dunmore referred to the rebels as "swarms of crickets". Remnants of the earthwork are located near a yacht storage facility on Milford Haven.

Gwynn's Island Camp
(1776), Grimstead
The stockaded encampment of Loyalist Governor Dunmore and his supporters. This was their last refuge before being driven from Virginia.

Fort Nonsense ? ?
(unknown), Fort Nonsense
A mound of earth located along VA 3 and 14, said to be the remains of a colonial era fort of some kind. Possibly associated with the Cricket Hill Fort during the attack on Dunmore's camp on Gwynn's Island.

Fort Mattapony (3) ?
(1677 - 1678 ?), near Milford
A VA colonial militia defense in Caroline County, probably used for the protection of the local tribes against hostile tribes from the north. Abandoned or destroyed.

Fort Mattapony (2) (Archaeological Site)
(1657 - 1677, 1679 - 1683), Locust Grove
A VA colonial militia fort, located southeast of Walkerton on the Mattaponi River. It was laid out by Edward Digges (who later became governor) and was commanded by Major (later Colonel) Thomas Walker. Built for the protection of the Mattaponi Indians against hostile tribes from the north. The first fort, which may have been on this site or another, may have been torn down in 1677 and relocated (see above). The second fort may have been the same fort or a new work, and was garrisoned by Mattaponi Indians for their own defense. Seneca Indians from the northwest attacked in 1683.

Pamunkey Indian Fort
(1644 - 1645), near Manquin
A palisaded Indian fort built by Opechancanough (the late Chief Powhatan's brother and now paramount chief of the Powhatan Indians), used as his base during the 1644 massacre of the English settlers. Located on the Pamunkey River just upstream from Menmend (aka Askecocack), the Powhatan/Pamunkey capital town (since 1622) at the mouth of Moncuin Creek ("The Island"). The English attacked the stronghold in 1645 and captured the almost 90-year old leader, who died soon after in captivity in Jamestown.

Fort Manaskin
(1660's ?), New Kent County
A VA colonial militia fort located on the Pamunkey River. Also known as Fort Matuxon. Built for the protection of the Pamunkey Indians against hostile tribes from the north. Probably garrisoned by the Pamunkeys. Undetermined location.

Black Creek Redoubt
(1862), near Tunstall Station
A Union redoubt on the west-side of the Black Creek bridge protecting the railroad coming from White House.

Fort Royal ?
(1645 - 1678), near Brookeshire
Also known as Fort Mattapony (1), a colonial militia fort located about 1.5 miles southeast of West Point, near the West Point Airport. It was built after the 1644 Indian uprising, and was also garrisoned during Bacon's Rebellion in 1676. It may have been garrisoned by Mattaponi Indians at times.

Providence Forge Camp
(1781), Providence Forge
A state militia recruitment and training camp. Patriot forces under General LaFayette also encamped here.

Fort James (2)
(1645 - 1648), near Lanexa
A VA colonial militia fort built by Thomas Rolfe after the great Indian massacre of 1644 in which several hundred colonists perished. Located on the Chickahominy River at the earlier site of the Chickahominy minor village Moysonec (c. 1600).

Buck Archaeological Site
(1300 - 1600), Charles City County
A Late Woodland - Early Contact Period palisaded Indian town located on the Chickahominy River. Site was excavated.

Axacan
(1570 - 1571), York County
Also spelled Ajacán. A Powhatan Indian village on the Lower Peninsula, it was the site of the short-lived Spanish Jesuit Mission de Santa María. The group included Fathers Juan Bautista de Segura and Luis de Quirós, seven other missionaries, and a local Indian named Paquinquineo or Don Luís de Velasco (who had been captured by the Spanish on a 1561 raid in present North Carolina and spent six or seven years in Spain learning the language and religion). After about five months, Don Luís killed eight of the missionaries, leaving a teenage boy, Alonso de Olmos, as the only survivor. A Spanish supply ship in 1571 found no trace of the mission. The boy was later rescued in 1572 by a Spanish search party, and told his tale. Although the exact site has never been determined, most accounts locate the site on Queen's Creek northeast of Williamsburg, now within the present-day Camp Peary Naval Reservation.

Before the English arrived in 1585, what we know today as Virginia was known as Ajacán to the Spanish, and the Chesapeake Bay was known as La Bahía de Santa María. The Powhatans knew their homeland as Tsenacomoco. The Spanish first attempted to settle the area in 1566 with an expedition of 30 soldiers, two Dominican friars, and an Indian (Don Luís) as a guide. They landed somewhere on the Delmarva Peninsula but were driven off by a storm, ended up on the North Carolina Outer Banks, and then returned directly to Spain.
(this entry listed here for historical interest only)

Fort York
(1702 - 1749, 1755 - 1760's, 1781 ?), Yorktown
A VA colonial militia fort originally built to replace Tyndall's Point Fort. It had 11 guns in 1721. Reported in ruins after 1749, rebuilt in 1755 with 15 guns. Possibly rebuilt by the British in 1781.
Nearby was Fort Hill (1730's) (12 guns).

Yorktown Battlefield
(Colonial National Historical Park)
(1781, 1861 - 1864), Yorktown
Eight French/American and twenty-one British earthen redoubts and forts (1781) were located here. Many still remain, although later altered in the Civil War. The old town was surrounded by seven British redoubts and six batteries, and the Horn Work. Three British redoubts, a fort, and a battery provided an outer line. This includes Pigeon Hill Redoubt. The French/Americans had two lines of works to the south of town, including an older British redoubt that was captured. The British Fusiler's Redoubt was located where the Yorktown Victory Center is now located. Admission fee.

Extensive Confederate earthworks and batteries were built on and near several of the old British works beginning in May 1861, extending southwest to Beaverdam Creek to form part of the Warwick Line to Newport News. The first two major works on the line were known as the arrowhead-shaped White Redoubt (aka Fort Magruder (1)) (three guns) and the square-shaped Red Redoubt, located 525 yards west. There were seven water batteries (23 guns) in town on the York River to block Union naval activity. Most of the CSA works are still extant, although the NPS mainly interprets the American Revolution period.

Fifteen numbered Union heavy seige batteries and four lettered redoubts (A - D) were built south and southeast of town on and around the old American/French works in April 1862. Only Battery No. 1 (six guns), located on the south bank of the mouth of Wormley Creek, was ever fired before the Confederates abandoned the city in May 1862. The Union occupied the city thereafter, and rebuilt most of the CSA works. The sites of Union Battery #1 and Battery #4 (ten mortars) are located on the grounds of the U.S. Naval Supply Center - U.S. Coast Guard Reserve Training Center (no public access) near Marlbank. Most of the rest are located around Wormley Pond on National Park property. Batteries #3, #6, #7, #8, #9, and #11 are mostly still intact. About half of Battery #5 is still extant. Redoubts A, B, and D are still intact. Redoubt C is gone except for a portion of the covered way. Several connecting trenches are still extant.

Tyndall's Point Fort
(Gloucester Point Archaeological District)
(1667 - 1699, 1710 - 1749, 1756 - 1760's, 1781, 1861 - 1864), Gloucester Point
Colonists first built palisaded Fort James (3) at Gloucester Point (then known as Tyndall's Point) in 1667 to defend against the Dutch. Gloucester Fort (1710) (15 guns) was reported in ruins after 1749 and was rebuilt with 12 guns in 1756. British fortifications also existed here during the Battle of Yorktown in 1781, consisting of a main fort (Tyndall's Fort) and four outer redoubts. The Confederate star-shaped Fort Brown (1861 - 1862) (three guns) is located at what is now Tyndalls Point Park. A small portion is still extant, but well preserved. The Union occupied it in May 1862. A 12-gun CSA water battery was located adjacent to the old colonial wharf (no remains). Other unnamed CSA seacoast batteries were also in the area.

John Chisman's Fort
(1636 ?), near Seaford
A settlers' fort. Undetermined location.

Seaford Defenses
(1781, 1861 - 1862), Seaford
British earthworks from the Yorktown Campaign (1781), and Confederate works from the Civil War were located here on Seaford (Crab) Neck and on Goodwin Neck near Dandy. Some remains of the CSA works are on private property. Nearby is CSA Ship's Point Battery (16 guns ?) on the Poquoson River near Dare. The CSA works were abandoned in March 1862.

Big Bethel Redoubt
(1861 - 1862), Big Bethel
A CSA one mile-long infantry trench and enclosed artillery redoubt covered the bridge over the Northwest Branch Back River. A short section of the trench is still extant, but the redoubt is gone. Located on the north bank of the river, on military property (Langley AFB), no public access. Two small monuments (1905) are located on the south bank in Bethel Park and the Confederate Cemetery.

(For James River defenses, including Williamsburg, please see page 7)

(For Hampton Roads defenses please see page 8)

Nandsamund
(c. 1600), near Reids Ferry
A major Nansemond Indian town on the Nansemond River above the present-day VA 125 bridge, noted on John Smith's map of 1608. Possible site never excavated, unknown if palisaded.

Hill's Point Fort
(1814), near Red Top
A VA state militia work at the fork of the West Branch - East Branch Nansemond River north of Suffolk. Reoccupied by the Confederates in the Civil War (see below).

Civil War Defenses of Suffolk
(1861 - 1863), Suffolk
Early Confederate defenses of the city included:
Hill's Point Battery (aka Fort Huger (1)) (five guns) located at the fork of the West Branch - East Branch Nansemond River, near Red Top. Originally named Camp Riddick, or "Camp of Destruction" after an incident of bad weather. Attacked and captured by the Union in April 1863. Still exists on the grounds of the Nansemond River Golf Club (17th tee).
Knob Hill Battery (1863) located across the West Branch Nansemond River from Hill's Point. Possibly still exists.
Norfleet Point Battery (1863) (three guns) located north of town on the west-side of the East Branch at Norfleet's Farm (near Elephant Fork). Destroyed in 1971.
Camp Huger (1861) a training camp in town.
Camp Randolph (1862) a training camp near town.
Two state markers are located on US 460 at Elephant Fork noting the Confederate seige lines (no remains) and actions of March-May 1863.

Union forces occupied the city in 1862 - 1863 and built a ten mile ring of earthworks around the city (today's downtown). All works were destroyed by the Union as they relocated to Portsmouth in June 1863. They included:
Fort Dix a square redoubt to the south on the east-side of the Edenton (Whitemarsh) Road (Rt. 642),
Fort Union a square redoubt west of the Edenton Road, about halfway between Forts Dix and McClellan,
Fort McClellan a square redoubt to the south on the east-side of the Somerton Road (US 13),
Fort Seward north of Fort McClellan,
Fort Nansemond (2) a square redoubt to the south west of the Somerton Road and south of the Norfolk and Western Railroad,
South Quay Batteries three open works to the west at Kilby's Millpond, covering the South Quay - Franklin Road,
Fort (or Battery) Rosecrans an open work to the west just north of the Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad,
Fort Corcoran a large lunette to the northwest,
Fort Peck a small redan covering the drawbridge over the Nansemond River, on the west-side of the Chuckatuck Road (VA 32),
Battery Mansfield on the river, possibly the renamed Fort Peck,
Battery Onondaga on the river west of Fort Dutton,
Fort Dutton (1) on the river at Jericho Run (possibly previously known as the "Contraband Camp"),
Fort Jericho a square redoubt west of the Jericho Canal on the south-side of the Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad,
Fort Halleck a square redoubt west of the Jericho Canal on the north-side of the Norfolk and Western Railroad,
Battery Kimball (1863) (three guns) north of town on the east-side of the East Branch Nansemond River nearly opposite Norfleet Point (near Willowbrook at River Creek Landing) (no remains),
Battery Morris (1863) (three guns) adjacent to (above) Battery Kimball (no remains),
Fort Connecticut (1863) two miles north of town on the east-side of the East Branch Nansemond River (near Nansemond).
(There is a Fort Street and Battery Ave. downtown, and another Fort Street downtown by the Nansemond River.)

Of interest in town is Riddick's Folly Museum, at 510 North Main Street, with exhibits on the Civil War history of the city. Built in 1837, it served as the Union Headquarters during the occupation of the town. Admission fee.

NEED MORE INFO: Street names: Fort James Court in New Kent County near Chickahominy River; Battery Circle in York County (Tabb area) on Poquoson River.

Towns: Battery in Essex County