VA -- Newport News -- Battle of Dam No. 1 (Newport News Park):
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Description of Subject Matter: Newport News Park is the location of Battle of Dam No. 1, the first major battle of the peninsula campaign and the first major land battle in Virginia. Union General George B. McClellan planned to move from Fort Monroe, on the end of the tidewater peninsula, move up the peninsula, opening the James River to Union ships, defeat the Confederate army and seize Richmond.
His opponent, Confederate Maj. Gen. John B. Magruder, was determined to fight a delaying action which would allow Gen. Joseph Johnston to move his troops into the area. Magruder constructed three defensive lines along the peninsula, using rivers and swamps to his advantage. The three lines -- the first ran from Deep Creek to the Poquoson River which included Big Bethel, the second (the Warwick line) stretched from Lee's Mill to Yorktown along the Warwick River, the third ran through Williamsburg between College and Queen's creeks -- would successfully delay the cautious McClellan for weeks.
In March, 1862, McClellan began landing the first of his hundred-thousand-man army at Fort Monroe. The "On to Richmond" drive began on April 4. Magruder abandoned his first line on April 5 and fell back to the Warwick Line. On that date, the Union line ran into Confederates at Lee's Mill and minor fighting occurred there. McClellan, ever cautious, decided to lay siege to Yorktown. He brought in 100 heavy rifled cannons and mortars. The Confederates, expecting an attack along the line, continued to build up their defenses.
At 3pm on April 16, 200 men from the 3rd Vermont infantry, supported by the 3rd New York Artillery, advanced from the woods toward the Confederate positions across the river at Dam Number 1. They met initial success, killed the defending colonel William McKinney, and sent the Confederate forces backward. However, Confederate reinforcements bolstered their line and started to push the Vermonters back. Unsupported by McClellan, the Vermonters retreated back across the river. The ent ...More...
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Directly Related Pages: Other pages with content (VA -- Newport News -- Battle of Dam No. 1 (Newport News Park)) directly related to this one:
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2012_VA_News_Park: VA -- Newport News -- Battle of Dam No. 1 (Newport News Park) (61 photos from 2012)
2005_VA_News_Park: VA -- Newport News -- Battle of Dam No. 1 (Newport News Park) (36 photos from 2005)
1998_VA_News_Park: VA -- Newport News -- Battle of Dam No. 1 (Newport News Park) (23 photos from 1998)
2006 photos: Trips this year: Florida (two separate trips including Lotusphere and taking care of mom), three weeks out west (including Yellowstone), Williamsburg, San Diego (comic book convention), and Georgia.
Equipment this year: I was using all six Fuji cameras at various times -- an S602Zoom, two S7000s,a S5200, an S9000, and an S9100. The majority of pictures this year were taken with the S9000. I have to say, the S7000s was the best camera I've used up to this point..
Number of photos taken this year: 183,000.
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