Berkeley Plantation/Harrison’s Landing

Located at 12602 Harrison Landing Road in Charles City

In July of 1862, after the final battle at Malvern Hill of the Seven Days Battles, Union General George McClellan completed a change of base from White House Landing on the Pamunkey River to Harrison’s Landing where his 140,000 man army remained encamped for six weeks. Dr. Powhatan B. Starke owned the property at the time. Several weeks before the army’s arrival Dr. Starke and his family had fled, leaving the plantation in the hands of trusted slaves. Runaway slaves flocked to the encampment. The Union Navy removed injured and ill soldiers and supplied the army with provisions. While camped at Harrison’s Landing, General Daniel Butterfield, with the help of his bugler, O.W. Norton, created “Taps” to honor his men. The Berkeley house, birthplace of President Benjamin Harrison, was used as a hospital. Pictures of the interior of the house are not allowed since it is still a private residence. During the guided tour when one enters from the south or river entrance of the home the first room on the right was used as a storage area for medical supplies. The two rooms of the left were used as operating rooms. The second room on the left still has blood stains on the floor which are covered by a carpet. The basement which is now a museum housed Confederate prisoners during the war. The property was also used as an encampment during Grant’s Siege of Petersburg.

**The roof- there was a signal station on top of the roof**

**The kitchen- the cannonball marker is no longer on the wall**

**37.3172778, -77.1799722- cannonball embedded in the wall**

This table set up behind the Berkeley house showcased relics that were found on the property as part of an Experience Life as a Civil War Soldier Day Event on the property.

**Sneden’s map Library of Congress link**

**George the cat who lives on the property and enjoys being the center of attention**

The two slave cabins below were reconstructed for use in the movie Harriet parts of which were filmed on the property. The Berkeley house was used as the exterior for William Seward’s New York home. The forest scenes were filmed in Three Lakes Park in Henrico. Old Towne Petersburg was used to mimic Civil War Philadelphia. Tubman’s home during her enslavement was constructed in Powhatan County, Virginia on the James River Correctional Center property. The schooner seen in Harriet was the Yorktown-based Alliance moored at Williams Wharf Landing in Matthews, Virginia. There is a historical exhibit inside one of the cabins.