Military
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Lee Hall, a stately Italianate plantation dwelling, was built by 1859 for affluent planter Richard Decatur Lee. Confederate generals John Bankhead Magruder and Joseph Eggleston Johnston used the mansion as their headquarters during the April–May 1862 Warwick-Yorktown siege phase of the Peninsula Campaign. An earthen fort in the yard used to launch a Confederate hot-air balloon on 17 Apr. 1862 remains from the military occupation. A brief skirmish was fought here on 4 May 1862 during the Confederate retreat to Williamsburg. After the war, Lee strove to revitalize his farm but went bankrupt in 1870 and was foreclosed the next year.
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Newport News, Virginia · United States
