First Peninsula Defense Line

Earthworks on the hillside above mark the southernmost of three fortified cross-peninsula defense lines built by Confederate Gen. John B. Magruder in the spring of 1862, extending three miles from Deep Creek at Young’s Mill to the Poquoson River at Harwood’s Mill. Although Union Gen. C.D. Keys rated this line formidable, it was abandoned in favor of a firm stand on the second defense line at Lee’s Mill on April 5, 1862.

Newport News, Virginia · United States