War Comes to Warwick  By J. Michael Moore, M.A.

When the Commonwealth of Virginia seceded from the Union on April 17, 1861, Warwick County residents soon answered the call to arms and enlisted in volunteer units.  Dr. Humphrey Harwood Curtis, Jr., of Endview Plantation raised an infantry company, the Warwick Beauregards, which later joined with other Peninsula companies to form the 32^nd Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment.  Warwick County men also served in the Old Dominion Dragoons, the Peninsula Artillery, and other volunteer units defending the Peninsula.  The Confederate government recognized the Peninsula’s strategic importance as an avenue of advance to Richmond.  The Federals occupied Fort Monroe, which was only 80 miles southeast of Richmond.

On May 24, 1861, Confederate Colonel John Bankhead Magruder arrived in Yorktown to organize the Peninsula’s defenses.  The Confederate commander soon enlisted Richard D. Lee's aid in scouting the course of the vital Warwick River that flowed from near Yorktown across the Peninsula before emptying into the James River. From this and other reconnaissance, Magruder laid out plans for three defensive lines across the Peninsula to halt any Union advance from Fort Monroe and the Lower Peninsula with the Warwick-Yorktown Line as his main line of resistance. Simultaneously, Union Major General Benjamin Franklin Butler expanded his control of the Lower Peninsula.

General Butler sent three regiments to occupy Newport News Point on May 27, 1861. The Union soldiers fortified their position and named it Camp Butler.  The Union Navy gained another secure anchorage other than Fort Monroe and sealed off the James River. Magruder, however, won the first land battle of the war on June 10, 1861, at Big Bethel.  Both sides continued skirmishing throughout the summer and fall until they entered their winter camps.  Local men visited with their families and prepared for the coming campaign in the spring.  Promoted to major general in October 1861, Magruder continued bombarding his superiors in Richmond for more men and supplies to defend the Peninsula. His warnings were proven correct with the arrival of Major General George Brinton McClellan's Army of the Potomac.

In March 1862, the Army of the Potomac landed at Fort Monroe with the objective of capturing Richmond and ending the Civil War.  A flotilla of 389 vessels transported 121,500 men, 101 heavy siege cannons, 44 batteries of field artillery, and other equipage for this massive operation in three weeks.  The Union Army advanced up the Peninsula on April 4, 1862, and captured Magruder’s first line of defense.  General Magruder’s 13,000-man army retreated behind the Warwick-Yorktown Line, which General McClellan besieged from April 5, 1862, to May 4, 1862. The Battle of Dam No. 1 on April 16, 1862, was the only real engagement before the Confederate retreat on May 4, 1862. In addition, Confederate General Joseph Johnston brought down his army from Northern Virginia to the Peninsula while the Union soldiers continued to dig siege works along the Warwick River. As the Union siege batteries were nearly completed, General Johnston withdrew his army toward Williamsburg on the road to Richmond.  More significantly, the Battle of Williamsburg on May 4-5, 1862, delayed the Union pursuit and saved the Confederate supply train.  The Peninsula Campaign ended with the Union defeat in the Seven Days Battles and the Civil War lasted another three bloody years.  The Virginia Peninsula and Warwick County, however, remained under Union occupation for the rest of the war.

The City of Newport News continues the observance of the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War on April 13-14, 2013, at Endview Plantation with an annual reenactment.  This year covers the 150^th anniversary of the Confederate brief occupation of Williamsburg and the attack on the Union forces garrisoning the old colonial town.  The event includes talks, demonstrations, battles, and camp life.  Admission is $7 per person; children under 7 free.  Endview Plantation, c. 1769, is also open for tours at a reduced rate.