In the Line of March
— 1862 Peninsula Campaign —
Historic Lebanon Church, located behind you at the intersection of two strategic highways, served both the Confederate and the Union armies during the Civil War. Soon after Confederate Col. John Bankhead Magruder began organizing the Peninsula's defenses at Yorktown on May 21, 1861, elements of the 3rd Virginia Cavalry established a courier station here. Countless Confederate soldiers marched by here between April 5 and May 3, 1862, to fill Magruder's trenches. Three lines of fortifications blocked Union Gen. George B. McClellan's advance from Fort Monroe; the strongest line stretched 12 miles from Mulberry Island on the James River and followed the swampy Warwick River to within a mile of Yorktown. Capt. Richard H. Adams, Jr., of the 5th Alabama Infantry wrote, "We took up a line of march for Lebanon Church, a very disagreeable one too. Stayed about 2 hours [in the rain] march to Lee's Farm, Gen. Magruder's Headqtrs." The Confederates abandoned their lines and marched by here in their retreat to Williamsburg. On May 4, the day before the Battle of Williamsburg, Union Gens. William F. Smith and Winfield Scott Hancock established their headquarters here. Federal troops occupied the area afterward, and the 5th Pennsylvania Cavalry used the church as a stable until 1863. The troopers burned the floors for firewood, removed bricks from the walls, and partially destroyed the roof.HM Number | HM6OV |
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Series | This marker is part of the Virginia Civil War Trails series |
Tags | |
Placed By | Virginia Civil War Trails |
Marker Condition | No reports yet |
Date Added | Monday, October 6th, 2014 at 12:49pm PDT -07:00 |
UTM (WGS84 Datum) | 18S E 360497 N 4119507 |
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Decimal Degrees | 37.21163333, -76.57218333 |
Degrees and Decimal Minutes | N 37° 12.698', W 76° 34.331' |
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds | 37° 12' 41.88" N, 76° 34' 19.86" W |
Driving Directions | Google Maps |
Area Code(s) | 757 |
Closest Postal Address | At or near 389-429 VA-238, Newport News VA 23603, US |
Alternative Maps | Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap |
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