Drewry's Bluff: Naval Defense of Richmond, 1862

DBEWBY'S BLUFF: NAVAL DSFENSE OF BICHMOND, 1862 William M. Robinson, Jr. In the history of the War of Secession two actions in Virginia are known as the battle of Drewry's Bluff. The first engagement, the subject of this article, occurred on May 15, 1862. It was waged between the Confederate James River Squadron, aided by army detachments ashore, and the U.S. James River Division of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. The second action, primarily a land engagement, took place on May 16, 1864, between the forces of General P. G. T. Beauregard and Major General Benjamin F. Butler and took its name principaUy from the fact that the Confederate headquarters was located at Drewry's Bluff. Both battles were Confederate victories; both are significant because they frustrated enemy efforts which—had either been successful—would probably have led to the immediate capture of Richmond. To understand the circumstances and full significance of the first battle of Drewry's Bluff, a brief summary of the antecedent rmlitary events is helpful. The bluff itself, sometimes referred to in U.S. reports as Ward's Bluff and the fortifications on it as Fort Darling, is located at the midpoint of a great bend in the James River, eight miles below Richmond and a little more than three-quarters of a müe east of the old Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike. It was an ideal site for a river defense position. One can well imagine the elation of the Confederate reconnaissance party which was led to it in February, 1862, by the owner of the land, Augustus H. Drewry, then a volunteer captain of heavy artillery. Guns mounted on the bluff would be at an elevation of 80-110 feet above the river and would enjoy a direct, plunging fire upon vessels in the stream for something better than a mile in both directions.1 William M. Robinson, Jr., a native of Augusta, Georgia, served as an engineer officer in both World Wars before his retirement as colonel in 1950. He is the author of such respected studies as Justice in Grey and The Confederate Privateers. ? The height of the bluff was given in U.S. reports as 200 feet. U.S. War Dept., comp., Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the 167 168WILLIAM M. BOBINSON, JB. The bluff on its river side is so steep as to be virtuaUy unscalable. Its downstream shoulder lies between the river and a tributary creek, and presents to the enemy advancing upstream a right flank and rear almost as precipitous as its front. The ridge also dominates the lowlying bank on the opposite side of the James. Its only element of weakness is its vulnerability to attack from the interior at its upstream shoulder. Yet with friendly troops controlling the turnpike there was little to be feared from that quarter. Soon after her secession and prior to her union with the Confederate States, Virginia organized an army and navy and took immediate steps to prepare defenses against imminent invasion. Naval preparations included the establishment of several shore batteries along the Potomac, Rappahannock, York, Elizabeth, and James rivers, as well as the conversion of eight coastal steamers into men-of-war or transports. Among these vessels were the passenger packets Yorktown and Jamestown, lately of the Richmond-New York run. They were armed and outfitted for high seas and renamed the Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson, respectively. Both were destined to play prominent parts in the action at Drewry's Bluff. Virginia's prompt preparations were none too soon. Arlington Heights and Alexandria were easily taken by Federal land forces, but the naval shore batteries at Aquia Creek and Sewell's Point successfully resisted naval attacks. Then, on June 10, 1861, Confederate forces under John B. Magruder engaged a hostile force under Benjamin F. Butler at Big Bethel near Yorktown and so routed the bluecoats that Butler was shortly relieved in favor of Major General John E. Wool. The new commander was a veteran of over fifty years' military service. He set up a strong position on the Newport News-Hampton line from which he was never driven, and by...