Flames Appeared on all Sides

— 1862 Peninsula Campaign —

The fortifications that appear before you are all that remain of the extensive Confederate fortifications defending the Warwick River crossing at Lee's Mill.

After an uneventful march up the Great Warwick Road through Young's Mill on April 4, the Union IV Corps resumed its march up the Peninsula the next day determined to reach the Half-way House between Williamsburg and Yorktown. The lead division, commanded by Brig. Gen. William F. "Baldy" Smith, found its progress slowed first by torrents of rain that made the roads almost impassable and then by Brig. Gen. Lafayette McLaws' 1,800 Confederate troops with three guns at Lee's Mill. Smith reported that as his men approached the Warwick River "flames appeared on all sides." and he halted the Union advance.

Maj. Gen. Erasmus D. Keys, Union IV Corps Commander, immediately realized that his flanking movement to trap Magruder at Yorktown was stymied and wrote McClellan from Warwick Court House that "Magruder is in a strongly fortified position behind the Warwick River, the fords to which have been destroyed by dams, and the approaches to which are through dense forests, swamps and marshes. No part of this line as discovered can be taken without an enormous waste of life."

Brig. Gen. John G. Barnard, the Union Army of the Potomac's chief engineer, concurred and remarked that the " line is certainly one of the most extensive known to modern times." The little engagement on April 5, 1862, at Lee's Mill cost the Confederates ten casualties , but it had far reaching importance. Brought up standing before the unexpected array of extensive enemy entrenchments, McClellan resolved to deploy the 103 heavy guns he had brought to the Peninsula and besiege Magruder's defenses.

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Show me all markers in:  Newport News, VA  |  23608  |  Virginia  |  United States of America

Lee's Mill
Fortification Design
The Warwick-Yorktown Line
The Battle of Lee's Mill
Union Occupation
The Warwick River
Lee's Mill Earthworks
Mulberry Point
Fort Eustis
Glebe Lands

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