Military
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Union Gen. Benjamin Butler’s 30,000-man Army of the James landed here without opposition on May 5, 1864. Despite his surprise arrival, Butler proved unable to take advantage of the unprepared Confederate defenders below Richmond. He pushed west toward Port Walthall Junction, then Drewry’s Bluff, but a cautious command style combined with concern for a long supply line that led back to this landing paralyzed Butler. He threatened Richmond briefly from the south before retiring to the safety of the Bermuda Hundred peninsula, where his army remained for the last year of the war.
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Virginia · United States
