The Peninsula Campaign Part 15- The Battle of Drewry’s Bluff
The Confederates abandoned Yorktown on May 4th and retreated westward. This action made the Rebel occupation of Norfolk no longer tenable and Major General Benjamin Huger left the city five days later burning the Gosport Navy Yard and military supplies. The ironclad CSSVirginia was ordered to Richmond, but even after lightening the ship as much as possible, her draft was still too deep to move up the James River. Therefore, in the early morning hours of May 11th, the crew destroyed the ship. The James River was now open to navigation almost all of the way to Richmond except for the fort on Drewry’s Bluff about 8 miles below the city. Fort Drewry was named after Augustus Drewry the man who owned the land upon which it was built, a 100 foot tall bluff sitting at a bend of the James River. Initially 3 guns were placed there but more were added after Norfolk fell. Logs, stones and sunken ships were used to obstruct the main channel. On the morning of the 15th five ships advanced up the James River. At 6:30 AM the Federals approached the bend in the river. The ironclad Galena was in the lead under Commander John Rodgers who was leading the mission. Second in line was the Monitor followed by the gunboats Port Royal, Naugatuck and Aroostook. Confederate sharpshooters on the banks fired at the Union sailors. The Galena turned to fire first. The Monitor could not elevate its guns enough to reach the fort. The Naugatuck’s 100-pound rifle burst when it was fired causing the ship to pull back. The Galena suffered several direct hits with some of them exploding below deck.
John Mackie
John Mackie, a United States marine, rallied a group of men to help fire an abandoned gun and in the process they destroyed a Confederate Columbiad in the fort. For this action Mackie would become the first marine ever to be awarded the Medal of Honor. At 11:00 AM a direct hit to the bow forced the Galena out of action and ended the battle. The Confederates suffered 7 killed and 8 wounded but prevented the Federals from passing the fort to Richmond. The Union Navy would not try again. The Federals lost 13 killed and 11 wounded on the Galena.
From the platform I had a beautiful view of the James River. Looking to the right there is a buoy in the middle of the river that sits at the site where the Federal ships fired from.
37.4271111, -77.438972237.4270000, -77.438944437.4200278, -77.4263333- Link This one-half mile trail will take you to the Confederate fort named Fort Drewry by southerners and Fort Darling by the Federals. On May 15, 1862, the Confederate guns mounted inside the fort and along the river bluff stopped the mighty Union fleet led by the ironclads Monitor and Galena in its attempt to force its way up the James River to Richmond. This action represented a significant victory for the Confederates who had suffered major setbacks in all theaters of the war since First Manassas in July 1861. Later in the war Drewry’s Bluff became the site of the Confederate Naval Academy and the Marine Corps Camp of Instruction. I parked here 37.4211903, -77.4241841, and walked the short distance to the fortAs capital of the Confederate States of America, Richmond, Virginia, became the constant target of Northern armies. It was vulnerable by water as well as by land. Gunboats could navigate the James River all the way to Richmond. Drewry’s Bluff, named for local landowner Captain Augustus H. Drewry, rose 90 feet above the water and commanded a sharp bend in the James River, making it a logical site for defensive fortifications. By May 1862, workers had constructed earthworks, dug artillery emplacements, and mounted three large seacoast guns inside the fort. On May 10-11, 1862, retreating Confederates abandoned Norfolk and destroyed their only ironclad, the CSS Virginia. The James River was now open to the U.S. Navy. Five well-armed ships, including the ironclads Galena and Monitor, ascended the James River under Commander John Rodgers. Their mission shell Richmond into submission. The city’s fate rested with 300 or 400 Southern troops manning the large cannon at this small earthen fort, just seven miles south of the capital. The stage was set for the first epic battles for control of Richmond.Summary of the battle
Walking down the path to the fort it divides. The markers below are on the path to the left.
37.4224722, -77.4232500- Link– 1863 the Drewry’s Bluff post expanded into a military city. Hundreds of Confederate soldiers, sailors, and Marines camped on these grounds. The Confederate States Naval Academy held classes in buildings and aboard the side-wheeled steamer CSS Patrick Henry, anchored in the James River. A wide variety of supporting structures were built that included barracks, a chapel, a post office, a hotel, and even a Masonic lodge. Steamships brought civilians down from Richmond nearly every day to picnic, socialize, and watch the sailors and Marines drill.The Fort Drewry complex37.4227222, -77.4238056 Link37.4226111, -77.4234722
I traced my steps back to the fork in the path and went to the right. Before the entry to the fort was the marker below.
37.4223056, -77.4226111- Link– The little white chapel that stood here was built by soldiers of the garrison and held 150 people. Different ministers came from Richmond each week to preach. A small burial ground was located just 50 yards beyond the chapel—a reminder that life at Drewry’s Bluff was not without hazard from battle or disease.
The entrance to the fort
Fort diagramThe rampart to the left of the entranceThe rampart to the right of the entrancePath to the leftPath to the right37.4219444, -77.4220556- Link It was the end of an era: the advent of the ironclad made traditional wooden-hulled warships obsolete. Despite this, the Confederates used a centuries-old device here: the hot-shot furnace. Inside the furnace, solid shot were heated red-hot. Clay wads of wet hay were then inserted between the powder and the ball to keep the heat from igniting the powder prematurely. When fired at a wooden ship, the sizzling missile could set the vessel ablaze. The photographers who visited Drewry’s Bluff in 1865 found the quaint little hot-shot furnace irresistible, and made at least three different views of it. Not surprisingly, the furnace here was never used in battle. This incredible image was taken from where you now stand.Hot shot furnace
A caved in powder magazine is in the center of the image
Interior of the fort at the marker
37.4218889, -77.4219722- Link After the repulse of the Union Navy on May 15, 1862, Drewry’s Bluff became famous as a tangible symbol of Confederate resistance. Work crews made up of impressed slave labor continued construction of the fort, eventually completing a four-sided, enclosed earthwork bristling with guns. This photograph, taken from the wall behind you, shows the section built after May 15. Following the war the bombproofs collapsed leaving deep impressions in the earth. Also note that the ground was completely open, allowing the fort’s defenders to see for miles. When orders came to evacuate Richmond, the Confederate garrison abandoned the fort and joined Lee’s army during its retreat to Appomattox. For many of them, their active service ended with capture at the Battle of Sailor’s Creek, April 6, 1865. Drewry’s Bluff did not remain vacant long. Union troops immediately took possession of the fort that for three years had barred their way to Richmond.View from the markerView from the markerView from the markerView from the markerPath to the covered way markerLooking from the southern wall down the rampart at the outside of the fortLooking down the southern wall down the rampart to the exteriorPath to the covered way markerwalking on the top of the southern rampart37.4214722, -77.4226111– During battle, supplies could be brought into the fort through the Covered Way, a tunnel protected from shell-fire.Collapsed covered wayWalking along the top of the rampart to the southeastern bastionFrom the top of the eastern rampart looking at the exteriorPath leading to the Finishing Fort Drewry marker
37.4218889, -77.4218889- Link– Immediately after the battle, men of Chesterfield County’s own Southside Artillery, along with others, worked to strengthen the fort. The section before you was likely their first project. Eventually the earthworks around you formed an enclosed fort, armed with as many as eight large guns. Although the defenses at Drewry’s Bluff became more and more powerful, the fort never fired another shot in anger.
Collapsed bombproofCollapsed powder magazineThe observation platformlooking west upriverLooking east down the James River37.4221389, -77.4216667- Link37.4221389, -77.4216944 Link37.4221667, -77.4217500– LinkLooking left from the platformup the James RiverLooking left from the platform up the riverLooking east down the James River. The Union flotilla was position where the buoy is sitting in the middle of the riverin theupper center of the image
A gun emplacement prior to exiting the fort
A second gun emplacement close to the fort entrance
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