Sgt. James Engle

In early 1864, General Ulysses S. Grant ordered coordinated Federal advances across the Confederacy, and on May 5 General Benjamin F. Butler's Army of the James landed at Bermuda Hundred to begin operations against Richmond, Petersburg, and Confederate supply lines. General P.G.T. Beauregard countered these moves, and by June 1864 he had effectively bottled up Butler's army behind fortifications across the Bermuda Hundred peninsula for the rest of the war. During the Civil War, this area was known as Foster's Farm, and the trenches here formed part of the main Federal line that stretched from the James River to the Appomattox River in 1864. On May 18, 1864, three regiments from General George S. Pickett's division attacked and drove the 8th Maine Infantry from its advance line about one mile northwest of here, but the 97th Pennsylvania Infantry counterattacked and retook the line. Throughout that day the Pennsylvanians defended their position with almost uninterrupted fire and by afternoon were dangerously low on ammunition. Corporal James Engle of Company I, a member of the color guard, and John Parsons, a musician, volunteered to carry ammunition to the front line under heavy fire from nearby Confederate infantry. Parsons was mortally wounded while trying to return to the rear for more ammunition, but Engle remained at the front for the rest of the day, distributing rounds under constant fire. Later promoted to sergeant, Engle was recommended by members of his regiment in 1896 for the Medal of Honor for his bravery at Foster's Farm, and the medal was awarded on December 17, 1896. On May 20, 1864, Federal and Confederate forces fought a series of attacks and counterattacks in this area as Confederates tried to seize the Federal picket line to establish their own earthworks. In the fighting later known as the Battle of Ware Bottom Church, Federal forces were pushed back toward their main line, allowing Confederates to begin digging the fortifications across the Bermuda Hundred peninsula known as the Howlett Line, which blocked the Federal approach to Richmond from Bermuda Hundred for the rest of the war.

Virginia · United States