Fort Magruder

Fort Magruder

Fort Magruder Monument
Location in Virginia
Coordinates	37°15′50.29″N 76°39′58.68″W / 37.2639694°N 76.6663000°W / 37.2639694; -76.6663000
Location	Williamsburg, Virginia

Fort Magruder was a 30-foot (9.1 m) high earthen fortification straddling the road between Yorktown and Williamsburg, Virginia, just outside the latter city (and former Virginia state capital) during the American Civil War. At the center of the Williamsburg Line, it was also referred to as Redoubt Number 6.

Fort Magruder was strategic in defending Williamsburg during the Peninsula Campaign in 1862 due to its location near the junction of the two roads that led to Williamsburg from Yorktown and Lee's Mill to the east. It became a key point during the Battle of Williamsburg on May 5, 1862.

In the American Civil War, the Peninsula Campaign was a major Union operation launched in southeastern Virginia from March through July 1862, the first large-scale offensive in the Eastern Theater. The operation, commanded by Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, was an amphibious turning movement intended to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond by moving up (west) the Virginia Peninsula from Fort Monroe at the eastern tip near the entrance to Hampton Roads to Richmond, about 75 miles (121 km) away.

The Confederate Army of the Peninsula was the primary defensive force, and was commanded by Brig. Gen. John B. "Prince John" Magruder, a popular leader who had held back Union forces in the area beginning in 1861. At the time the Army of the Potomac arrived at Fort Monroe in early 1862, only Magruder's 13,000 men faced them on the Peninsula. The Confederate strategy of the early portion of the Peninsula Campaign became one of delays, providing vital time for defenses to be built outside Richmond. General Magruder had been an amateur actor, and was successful in the early stages of the Peninsula Campaign partially by using elaborate ruse tactics to appear to have a much larger force than he actually had. Stephen Sears, the author of the To The Gates of Richmond, described the demonstrations of his limited troops, which included marching back and forth behind the lines with great fanfare to appear to be a larger force, as "performances of the Prince John Players." Magruder's efforts appeared to have the desired effect, as the ever-cautious McClellan moved very slowly with his forces, which were actually substantially larger than those of the defenders. Meanwhile, a long defensive line was being built outside Richmond.