Williamsburg in the Civil War

Williamsburg, once the capital of Virginia, had declined after the American Revolution, and by 1861 many colonial structures still lined its streets while the Governor’s Palace and former capitol building lay in ruins, the College of William and Mary had lost prestige, the roads were unpaved and rutted, and the population and commerce had dwindled. With the eruption of the Civil War, however, Williamsburg became strategically significant. Situated 12 miles west of Yorktown on a peninsula formed by the York and James rivers, it stood on a four-mile-wide plain with ravines, marshes, millponds, and streams to the east and west, and this topography narrowed the land approach from Hampton and Yorktown. The Yorktown-Hampton and Great Warwick (Hampton) Roads converged a few miles east of town and then passed through Williamsburg toward Richmond, the Confederate capital, 50 miles northwest, while Fort Monroe, the only masonry fort in Virginia in Union hands throughout the war, stood 24 miles southeast on Old Point Comfort near Hampton. Because Confederates were determined to block any Federal advance from Fort Monroe, Williamsburg became a key to their defensive system. The fortifications known as the Williamsburg Line were the scene of the Battle of Williamsburg on May 5, 1862. The town escaped damage then, but later, on September 5, Pennsylvania cavalrymen burned the Wren Building after a Confederate raid. Federals occupied Williamsburg for the rest of the war. Although Williamsburg is famous for its colonial heritage, parts of the 1862 battlefield remain intact, including two redoubts in Redoubt Park.

Williamsburg, Virginia · United States