I did not need a ticket just to walk around and take pictures from the outside of buildings. Pay parking was available at lots P4- 37.2703960, -76.7058359, P6- 37.2693146, -76.705745, Prince George St- 37.2721677, -76.7057111 but I needed to download the app Passport Parking in order to pay.

Colonial Williamsburg

The John Blair House- 331 W Duke of Gloucester Street- served as a hospital during the Civil War. The house had a brick oven which Union bakers and soldiers used. Bread baked here was delivered to Fort Magruder.

African Baptist Church- 37.2701543, -76.7039074. The church when it was here was used as a hospital by Confederates. Plans are underway to reconstruct the church.

Bowden- Armistead House- 205 W Duke of Gloucester Street. Lemuel Bowden was a Unionist. He was made mayor during the Union occupation. His mother considered him a traitor and would not live in the house with him. He attended the Wheeling Convention, which represented the loyal Union government of Virginia and was elected Senator. He died of smallpox less than a year later.

Burton Parish Church- 201 W Duke of Gloucester Street- served as a hospital during the Civil War. At least 40 Confederate soldiers are buried in the churchyard including the grave of Colonel George T Ward from the 2nd Florida and a monument to James Semple who served aboard the CSS Virginia. There is a tablet inside the north transept of the church in memory of Confederate soldiers.

The Confederate Fort Ward in Florida at the junction of the St. Marks and Wakulla River was named after the colonel. The fort was built on top of the ruins of a colonial era Spanish fort and is preserved at the San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park at 148 Old Fort Road in St. Marks, Florida.

Robert Carter House (Saunders or Page House)- 209 Palace Green Street. The house was ransacked by Union soldiers. The grounds and house were used as a stable. It was subsequently used as a Provost Marshall’s office. Robert Saunders, the owner, was an officer in the Confederate quartermaster’s corps.

St. George Tucker House- 113 Nicholson Street- was a hospital during the Civil War. Before the war Charles Minniegerode boarded here. He bacame the rector of St. Paul’s Church in Richmond. There he baptized Jefferson Davis and was conducting services when Davis was notified to evacuate Richmond.

Grissell Hay Lodging Montague Thompson House- corner of Nicholson and North England. The Thompson sisters lived here during the war. She named her chickens after Confederate officers.

Peyton Randolph House (Peachy House)- 100 W Nicholson Street- Major William Payne, a captured Confederate cavalry officer, recuperated here from wounds suffered on May 5, 1862, where he was cared for by the Peachy family. His wife gained permission to pass through the lines and helped secure his parole.

Powder Magazine- 37.2708275, -76.7000004. In 2022 prior to a restoration of the powder magazine archaeologic excavations uncovered a mass grave. The bodies of four Confederate soldiers and three amputated limbs were unearthed. The soldiers are thought to have died at one of the hospitals in town during the Battle of Williamsburg.

Ludwig Paradise House- 207 E Duke of Gloucester Street. Dessie Barziza grew up here and moved to Texas where he became a lawyer. In 1861 he enlisted in the Robertson Five Shooters as a First Lieutenant. In August 1861 the unit was sent to Virginia.

George Reid House- 210 E Duke of Gloucester Street. Victoria King, the daughter of a Confederate surgeon, lived here during the war and distributed biscuits and meat to Confederate soldiers passing the house during the Battle of Williamsburg. An officer on horseback asked her to hold his sword for safekeeping but never returned for it.

Palmer House (Vest Mansion)- 430 E Duke of Gloucester Street. Served as the headquarters for Generals Magruder, Johnston and McClellan. After McClellan left it was used as an office for provost marshals. One of these was Captain David Cronin of the 1st NY Mounted Rifles. Cronin made sketches of wartime Williamsburg and left an account of his stay here during the war. The home was much larger at the time.

Coke-Garrett House- 465 E E Nicholson Street. The house, office and front yard were used as a field hospital. Dr. Robert Garrett, a Confederate sympathizer, owned the house and helped care for wounded Federals.

Bassett Hall (Durfey Houe)- 522 Francis Street East. Captain John Lea of the 5th NC recuperated here from a wound. Here he met and married Margaret Durfey in August 1862. Lea’s best man at the wedding was George Armstrong Custer, his West Point classmate, who was given permission by General McClellan to attend the wedding. Custer stayed in the house during this time as a guest.

Nelson Galt House- 425 Francis Street East. Sallie Galt lived here. She distributed food to South Carolina cavalrymen and allowed displaced families to stay with her. Dorothea Dix was a friend of the family and interceded on her behalf when she was threatened with eviction for refusing to take the oath of allegiance.

Other Civil War sites in Williamsburg

William and Mary Campus– The Wren Building was used as a barracks for confederate troops. Rebel soldiers also boarded in the library. The day before the Battle of Williamsburg General Pickett’s brigade were camped behind the Wren Building. Other troops on the campus on the day of the battle included Early’s brigade, the 22nd and 38th VA, and the 5th and 23rd NC. General Longstreet had his headquarters here. The college buildings and grounds became a field hospital. After the Federal occupation ended the main building served as a Union barracks and commissary supply depot. Union officers stayed in Brafferton. Mrs. Virginia Southall stayed in the President’s House.

Wren Building- 37.2708347, -76.7088218

President’s House- 37.2711348, -76.7083756

Brafferton- 37.2705526, -76.7083085

Cedar Grove Cemetery- 809 S Henry Street.
The monument marks the resting place of over 250 Confederates buried in a common grave in the northeast corner of the cemetery.

Known graves in the plot

Next- The Peninsula Campaign Part 14- The Retreat Continues and The Battle of Eltham’s Landing

Source

Civil War Williamsburg by Carson O. Hudson Jr.