In 1864 on the Bermuda Hundred peninsula between the James and Appomattox Rivers, the Union Army of the James, commanded by Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler, was bottled up by Confederate Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard, defender of Petersburg. Shortly after occupying the peninsula in May, the cautious Butler began constructing earthworks across the peninsula about a mile east to protect against attack from the west. The Confederates built parallel earthworks, the Howlett Line, about half a mile east of here to bottle up the Federals. In Sept., however, Butler's army easily crossed the James River to attack the Richmond fortifications.