The Battle of Williamsburg: First Engagement of the Stuart Horse Artillery
When George B. McClellan first learned that the Confederates had evacuated Yorktown, Virginia the night of May 3, 1862, he must have felt a twinge of disappointment. For a month he had been planning to besiege the old Revolutionary battlefield -- his heavy guns were now in place. Once again, as he had done at Centreville, Johnston eluded him. McClellan put the best face on things, wiring Washington that "Yorktown is in our possession," and sent the cavalry under George Stoneman in pursuit.
Joe Johnston only wanted to get to Richmond as fast as possible. He had not wanted to defend the lower Peninsula. In April he was ordered to send his army of 56,000 to reinforce John B. Magrudler, the hero of Big Bethel, who had been on the Peninsula since May 1861. On April 12th Johnston toured the Yorktown line along the Warwick River. He was not impressed with what he saw. The line was too long to defend properly; McClellan outgunned him and could use the Federal Navy to bypass any defensive line via the Janes and York Rivers. On April 16th, the Federals had thrown a few Vermont brigades across the river at Dam No.1, searching for a weak point. The incident did not comfort Johnston, who wrote, ''No one but McClellan could have hesitated to attack....We must abandon the Peninsula soon. " By May 1st he had made up his mind to retreat.
Two main roads went up the Virginia Peninsula. In best of times, they were not good. The heavy rains that spring of 1862 made them worse. No railroad existed to aid transportation. The first road was called the Lee's Mill or Hampton Road. The second was the old Yorktown Road (on modern maps, the Old Williamsburg Road) Magruder, followed by Longstreet, took the Hampton Road; G.W. Smith and D.H. Hill took the Yorktown Road, while Jeb Stuart's cavalry acted as rearguard on both roads. At the junction of these two roads stood the pride of the Williamsburg defenses, Fort Magruder. The Williamsburg line was Constructed in 1861-1862 under the direction of Colonel Benjamin Ewell of the College of William and Mary, aided by Alfred Rives. It consisted of Fort Magruder and fourteen redoubts, approximately four miles in length, from the James to the York Rivers. Redoubt #1 was anchored by swampy Tutter's Neck Pond, which ran into the James; the line hooked at Redoubts #12 and #13 on Queen' s Creek, a tributary of the York. Johnston had no intention of defending Williamsburg. By nightfall, the bulk of his army was pushing through the congested streets of the old Virginia Capital.
About noon on May 4th Stoneman finally made contact with the Confederates some eight miles from Yorktown. He engaged the 4th Virginia Cavalry under Lt. Williams C. Wickham. A Federal battery under Stuart's father-in-law, Philip St. George Cooke, forced the Confederates to retire. Cooke finally came in front of Fort Magruder. It was not yet occupied by troops or artillery . Cooke's hesitation cost him the race; Paul J. Semmes' brigade, reinforced by McLaw's and Kershaw, lined the parapets. Stoneman finally arrived on the scene. After a sharp skirmish, heavy abatis, lack of reinforcements and nightfall led Stoneman to retire a half mile. Much to their mortification, however, McLaws ordered an assault and captured a gun which was stuck in the mud. Wickham was wounded. A pouring rain added to the misery of all.
Earlier that day, Stoneman had detached the brigade of William H. Emory to cut off a Confederate battery, supported by Stuart, on the Hampton Road. These were two mountain howitzers from Floyd County, procured by Pelham in Richmond, under command of 2nd Lieutenant James Shepherd. Stuart sent 100 men out to meet this threat, but they were driven back to Grove's Llanding (near Carter's Grove plantation) where, much to his chagrin, he was fired upon by Confederate gunboats in the James! Emory's pursuit was hampered by lack of reinforcements. Smith's division could not cross Skiffe's Creek as the bridge had been burned. He had to cross country to the Yorktown Road. To further confuse matters, Hooker's division had crossed over to the Hampton. Road. As a result no help was coming to Stoneman in front of Fort Magruder that night.
When dawn broke, roost of the Federal corrmanders were at the Adams house -- Brigadier General Edwin V. Sumer, II Corps corrmander; Samuel P. Heintzelman of the III Corps; and General Erasmus Keyes who led the IV Corps. Joe Hooker's division was the first to arrive in front of Fort Magruder. On his own initiative, he decided to attack. Apparently, he made no reconnaissance. The assault began at 6 a.m.
During the night, Longstreet replaced the troops at Fort Magruder with the brigades of Richard Anderson and Roger Pryor. South Carolina skirmishers were sent out on the Hampton Road. Hooker threw in one of his three brigades, under General Cuvier Grover. By 7:30 a.m., Hooker's artillery became engaged, but the Palmetto Sharpshooters picked off the gunners. When a shell burst in their midst, killing four men, panic set in, and they abandoned their guns. Major Charles S. Wainwright, Hooker's chief of artillery, angrily ordered them back. Hooker offered to lend an infantry company to man the guns, but Wainwright considered this an insult . He rode over to the 1st New York Battery and informed them that infantry was about to fire the guns and asked if he could get any volunteers. ''Every one of us, Sir!" a sergeant yelled. Assisted by the 6th New York Battery, they silenced the Confederate guns in Fort Magruder. By 8 a.m. Hooker became concerned for his right flank. Sumer was supposed to be forming the center of the line, but no reinforcements were yet up. Hooker extended his right until he reached the Yorktown Road.
The Confederates now occupied six of the fourteen redoubts. Longstreet ordered A. P. Hill and Cadmus Wilcox up. By 10 a.m. Pickett arrived and Colston Was put in reserve. The fighting had been spirited and was now four hours long. Hooker still only had his division. At 11:20 a.m. he scribbled a note to Heintzelman. Where was Sumner? He remained at his headquarters.Sumner seemed confused. He could hear Hooker's fight. One division was available, but he needed that to hold the left. No orders were issued. Meanwhile, A. P. Hill and Wilcox surged forward, driving Hooker back. At 1 p.m., Heintzelman, Hooker's corps commander, arrived on the scene. He wrote: "'The rain, the sight of the wounded, the re-enforcernents still behind, all conspired to depress everybody. No efforts I could make would move them. I ordered the drums to beat, but the drums were wet, and did not give forth cheerful sounds. I ordered the musicians to play...the band struck up a patriotic cheer. This inspired new life into all. The men collected and began to cheer."
Hooker had thrown in his reserves. Finally , John J. Peck's brigade of Couch's division arrived. The New Yorkers formed on both sides of the Yorktown Road. Pelham's battery, which had been at Bigler's Wharf, in park, for several days, arrived in front of Fort Magruder. His rapid firing of shot, shell, and cannister pushed back Peck's left center, which had to be strengthened by the 93rd Pennsylvania, and created enough smoke to mask a Confederate infantry charge. Pelham advanced out to the road, continuing his effective fire at close range.
Hooker finally received reinforcements when Kearney's division came up. The Confederate counterattack lost its momentum and by sunset it was over in front of Fort Magruder.
The Federals lost opportunities on both flanks. Earlier in the day, Emory's cavalry advanced along Quarterpath Road and found the Confederate fortification overlooking Tutter's Neck Pond unoccupied. Emory took possession, but his call for reinforcements was not answered. About 4 p.m. three regiments were sent, but it was "too little, too late."
The Confederates did not expect to have to fight; they had not occupied all their redoubts. Hancock's brigade of Smith's division was sent to cross Dam Cub Creek (near Jones's Pond). A runaway Negro slave informed Hancock that the redoubts on the Confederate left were not occupied. He took him on a short cut via an old country road. With four regiments and the 1st New York Battery Hancock took the first redoubt over the dam ( #14) . A second redoubt loomed about 1200 yards ahead. Lieutenant George Custer led the way and it was occupied. Hancock realized his opportunity and called for reinforcements. Sumner, worried about the Union center, recalled the reinforcements and ordered Hancock back. This Hancock refused to do. From his position, . he observed the fight going on in and around Fort Magruder. The 1st New York Light Artillery arrived and the two batteries opened up an enfilading fire on the fort, although they did little damage. The firing did raise the ire of a very ambitious Confederate officer --Jubal A. Early.
Up to this point, D. H. Hill's division had not been engaged. Early asked his commander's permission to take out the battery, and Hill approved. No reconnaissance was made. Longstreet reluctantly gave his blessing. Four regiments -- the 24th Virginia, 38th Virginia, 5th North Carolina, and 23rd North Carolina -- formed for the charge. Hancock, after getting yet another order to retire, was disengaging when Early and Hill struck. It was a badly mismanaged affair. First, Early and his men facing the wrong way -- instead of flanking the Yankees, they were outflanked by them. They were not facing an isolated battery, but five infantry regiments. Early himself was wounded. Most of the 24th Virginia lay dead in a wheatfield; the survivors reached a rail fence. They obliqued towards heavy woods, but the 5th North Carolina was caught in the open. The slaughter was terrible -- D. H. Hill, after the war, admitted it was the only assault that he ordered which he later regretted. Twenty minutes later it was over. That night Johnston continued his retreat. McClellan pursued cautiously. Casualties in the "rearguard engagement" of Williamsburg totaled 2,283 Federals ard 1,560 Confederates. A victory was claimed by both sides.
Today most of the Williamsburg battlefield is under housing or on government property. Six redoubts of the original fourteen are in remarkable condition. It receives little attention in a town that emphasizes its Colonial and Revolutionary heritage.
Joe Hooker won his sobriquet of ''Fighting Joe" here. His division fought the greater part of seven hours alone, yet he received little attention. In fact, he was even criticized for bringing on an engagement. Hancock, whose fight lasted only 20 minutes, won his title of "Hancock the Superb. " The performances of Sumner, Heintzelman and Keyes were summed up by the French Prince de Joinville, who told McClellan, "General, you have three old women in the advance. " On the Confederate side, Longstreet showed his ability to manage a tactical operation independently -- Johnston did not interfere. Early still showed too much impetuosity. Lessons were learned at the cost of men's lives. As for a certain artillery officer, Jeb Stuart wrote proudly to his wife: "I consider the most brilliant feat of the 5th to have been a dash of the Stuart Horse Artillery to the front. Coming suddenly under a galling fire from the woods, from a reinforcement of the enemy, they wheeled into action sustaining in the most brilliant manner the fortunes of the day till the Inf 'y could come to their support, and all the time under a continuous Inf' y fire of 200 yards or less distance. " The horse artillery, forged in the winter, had been tested and not found wanting. At Williamsburg they had their baptism of fire. The road leading from Williamsburg to Richmond was a long one, but it was one blazed with glory.
This article first appeared in Volume 6, No. 6 of The Cannoneer.
Sources:
O.R., Vol. XI, Part I.
Mark Grimsley, "Rear Guard at Williamsburg," Vol. XXIV, No. 3, pp. 10-13,
27-30, Civil War Times Illustrated.
Carol Ann Kettenburg, "The Battle of Williamsburg," unpublished ms.,
The College of William and Mary, 1980.
Map U. S. Geological Survey.
