On to Richmond!

Early in the Civil War, Confederate defenses along the York River were tested when the Army of the Potomac, commanded by Major General George B. McClellan, steamed down the Chesapeake Bay from Washington D.C. in March, 1862, intending to use the York and James Rivers to capture Richmond. Though McClellan had created a world class army and was adored by his troops as “Little Mac,” he was a cautious field commander. A spirited defense of the James River turned him toward the York, where his army faced strong forts at Gloucester Point and Yorktown. After the Union navy refused to attack the Gloucester guns on April 5, the Army of the Potomac settled into a siege on the Yorktown side of the river. McClellan, confronting a daring Confederate army one-third the size of his own, spent a month bringing in huge mortars and siege guns. A few days before he was ready to begin a massive bombardment, the Confederates withdrew to defenses closer to Richmond, while the Gloucester Point artillery continued firing until Thomas J. Page, commanding the Confederate cannons, ordered a retreat on May 4th as Union forces closed in. In the 1860s, rifled and large cannons were revolutionizing siege warfare, but firing artillery remained dangerous because gunpowder bags and projectiles were still loaded at the muzzle and giant cast iron guns often exploded. A nearby gun breech belonged to a Parrott Rifle, a new cast iron cannon invented by Robert Parrott in 1860 and reinforced with a heavy band at the breech; the reason that gun exploded is unknown.

Gloucester Point, Virginia · United States