Today in History:

267 Series I Volume XI-I Serial 12 - Peninsular Campaign Part I

Page 267 Chapter XXIII. GENERAL REPORTS.

minor intrenchments. That at Yorktown there was a battery, consisting of five heavy columbiads, mounted on the heights of the town, directly opposite the Gloucester batteries, and commanding the river. That what has been called Cornwallis Cave was used as a magazine for ammunition; that the principal magazine was then (November 5) on the bluff, about 75 yards back of Cornwallis Cave, in an embankment on the upper side of the old road leading up into the town; that under the bluff just below Cornwallis Cave, concealed from upward-bound vessels behind a point on the river, is a battery of four or five short guns of large caliber, supposed to be shell guns; that this battery cannot be seen by vessels ascending the river until they have passed the point of land concealing it and are directly opposite the said battery. That there are iron gun-carriages at Ship Point, 8 miles below Toos Point; that up to November 5 there were no batteries on the York River Railroad between West Point and Richmond. That there were no fortifications or batteries on York River above Yorktown and Gloucester Point, or between the York and Rappahannock Rivers, except at Gloucester Point. That on December 9, 1861, my operative conversed with a lieutenant in General Magruder's command, said lieutenant being then on furlough at Richmond; that my operative asked the lieutenant if any further defenses had been made at West Point or on the York River within a month, and that the lieutenant replied, "No;" adding that the defenses at Gloucester Point and Yorktown were considered sufficient to protect the river.

That the statement of James H. Maurice, under date of February 1, concerning the forces on the James and York River Peninsula, is substantially as follows, to wit:

Encamped 3 miles southwest of Yorktown-Second Florida, Colonel Ward, 700 to 800 men; Sixteenth Georgia, Colonel Cobb; Thirteenth Louisiana, Colonel Sulakowski. Cobb's Legion, 4 1/2 miles south of Yorktown and 2 miles southeast from the Second Florida. Fifty-fifth Virginia, 4 1/2 miles south-southeast of Yorktown and half a mile back from the head of the creek. Fifth Virginia Artillery, Fort Grafton, 4 miles south-southeast of Yorktown. Three regiments immediately south of Yorktown. Several regiments at Williamsburg.

That William H. Ringgold, an intelligent colored man, in report addressed to you December 2, 1861, specifies the following regiments as being on the Yorktown Peninsula and at Gloucester Point:

Sixth Georgia Infantry, Colonel Colquitt, numbering 1,000 men, within the intrenchments at Yorktown above described. Louisiana Zouaves, numbering about 950, encamped a short distance below Yorktown. Second Alabama Infantry, 1,050 men, 3 miles from Yorktown, on the road to Hampton. Fifth North Carolina Infantry, 800 men, 8 miles from Yorktown, on the road to Big Bethel. Eighth Alabama Infantry, Colonel Winston, 1,000 men, near Big Bethel Church. Cobb's Legion, 5 or 6 miles from Big Bethel Church, 2 1/2 miles west of the road to Hampton and opposite Little Bethel. This Legion consists of about 400 cavalry, armed with Maynard's rifles, and 600 infantry, all from Georgia, commanded by Thomas C. Cobb. Several Louisiana regiments at Williamsburg. At Gloucester Point, 5,000 infantry, 160 cavalry, and two companies of artillery. That the total rebel force on the York and James River Peninsula was estimated by the rebels at 25,000 men. That there is a telegraph from Richmond to West Point, also from Yorktown and Great Bethel to Richmond via James River and


Page 267 Chapter XXIII. GENERAL REPORTS.