Fort Magruder - Building The Williamsburg Line

Building The Williamsburg Line

The Williamsburg Line was a line of defensive fortifications across the Virginia Peninsula east of Williamsburg anchored by College Creek, a tributary of the James River, on the south and Queen's Creek, a tributary of the York River on the north. A series of 14 redoubts were built along the line, with Fort Magruder (Redoubt Number 6) at the center at a key location. The concept was surely not a new one. To defend against attacks of the Native Americans, in 1632, the people of the Virginia Colony had constructed a line of palisades across the six miles (10 km) of land between the same two creeks, although it was slightly to the west, and also long gone by 1862. The earlier palisade had been anchored by a small fortified settlement which was named Middle Plantation. In 1699, it had been renamed Williamsburg.

Colonel Benjamin S. Ewell, leader of the 32nd Virginia Infantry had been trained as a civil engineer at the United States Military Academy at West Point and most recently serving as the President of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg. He had moved to the area in 1848, and lived nearby at a farm in James City County a few miles west of the old colonial capital city.

In 1861, Colonel Ewell had formed the 32nd Virginia from several local militia units from Elizabeth City County, Warwick County, York County, and James City County. In May 1861, he was charged by General Robert E. Lee, who was the commander of Virginia's military forces at the time, with the development and construction of the Williamsburg Line.

Ewell had made little progress on the Williamsburg defenses by late June 1861, and General Magruder replaced him with then-Lt. Col. Lafayette McLaws. Soldiers and impressed slaves constructed the line to the east of Williamsburg as recommended by Captain Alfred L. Rives, an 1848 civil engineering graduate of Virginia Military Institute (VMI) who was acting chief of the Engineer Bureau at Confederate headquarters in Richmond. The series of 14 redoubts stretched across a distance of about 4 miles (6.4 km), and were located 600 to 800 yards (730 m) apart. Redoubt # 1 was located behind Quarterpath Road (which led from Williamsburg to the James River). Redoubts 11 and 14 helped form the York River (northern) end of the line. (The site of Redoubt 12 is currently located in New Quarter Park).

Redoubt # 6, near the center of the Williamsburg Line, became known as Fort Magruder. It was shaped as an elongated pentagon, with walls 15 feet (4.6 m) high and nine feet thick. The earthworks were protected by a dry moat nine feet deep. It mounted eight guns.

The Williamsburg Line was unfinished when the Federals began marching up the Peninsula from Fort Monroe on April 4, 1862.