Camp Beall

From 1862 to 1865, Camp Beall at Drewry’s Bluff served as the training ground for Confederate Marines, with three companies permanently stationed there, the largest concentration of Confederate Marines anywhere in the South. After taking part in the battle there on May 15, 1862, Confederate Marines immediately began building the camp, although permanent structures were not completed until that winter. The Marines often complained of boredom and inactivity, but Drewry’s Bluff remained an important post that could be attacked at any time. Marines trained at Camp Beall later transferred to navy ships or other posts across the Confederacy. The camp was named for Lloyd J. Beall, an 1830 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy who fought in the Black Hawk, Seminole, and Mexican Wars, rose to the rank of major, and in 1861 became commandant of the Confederate States Marine Corps, serving until the war’s end; he died in Richmond in 1887.

Virginia · United States