Howlett Line

These earthworks formed part of the strong Confederate defensive position known as the Howlett Line, a chain of interconnected redoubts and trenches that ran eight miles north and south and took its name from the Howlett House at the northern end near the site of Battery Dantzler. Anchored by batteries with large caliber guns on the James River to the north and the Appomattox River to the south, the line defended the eastern approaches to Richmond between the two rivers. Construction began on May 19, 1864, and by June 17 Parker’s Boy Company had taken up its position here. During the first weeks, as the Union army shifted its attention south to Petersburg, Union and Confederate batteries in this area frequently dueled. Parker’s men were especially troubled by harassing fire from Union sharpshooters hidden in Ware Bottom Church, a small wooden building between the lines, until one dark evening three of Parker’s artillerists crawled out to the church and set it on fire, ending the deadly rifle fire from there.

Virginia · United States