Situated on high ground two miles behind the Warwick-Yorktown line, this Confederate redoubt was constructed by the Confederate Army of the Peninsula and provided a field of fire down the Great Warwick Road toward Lee’s Mill. It also was the site of a skirmish on May 4, 1862. After evacuating the Warwick-Yorktown line on May 3, 1862, following a three-week siege, the Confederates retreated, and the next morning the Union Army occupied the Confederate earthworks and pursued them. The Federal IV Corps advanced up the Great Warwick Road from Lee’s Mill toward Lee Hall, with Brig. Gen. William “Baldy” Smith’s division leading the infantry march and Capt. William Chambliss’ squadron of the 5th U.S. Cavalry screening it. Elements of the Jeff Davis Legion of Mississippi, covering the Confederate retreat, waited in this redoubt. Chambliss reported that at the recent headquarters of General Magruder, on a commanding eminence with an earthwork in front, he again discovered enemy pickets strongly posted in the work and behind the building. Here, the 5th U.S. Cavalry fought a brief skirmish with the Jeff Davis Legion. The Union troopers carried only revolvers and sabers, while the Confederates were armed with shotguns and carbines. Faced with heavy fire, Chambliss regrouped his squadron and sent out a flanking party, prompting the Mississippians to abandon the position and rejoin their comrades behind Skiffes Creek. Afterwards, Smith’s division marched past Lee Hall toward the cavalry and artillery battle near Williamsburg.
