Mott’s Battery
1862 Peninsula Campaign
On April 4, 1862, Major General George B. McClellan launched his offensive on the Virginia Peninsula against the Confederate capital at Richmond. Major General John B. Magruder’s 13,000 troops halted the Union advance along the Warwick-Yorktown line on April 5, 1862. With aggressive troop maneuvers and artillery duels, Magruder deceived McClellan into believing he faced impregnable fortifications defended by over 100,000 troops. “Our reconnaissance of yesterday,” reported McClellan, “shows the strength of the enemy’s positions. The Warwick River grows worse the more you look at it.” For the next month, McClellan concentrated 121,500 troops, 103 siege guns, and 44 artillery batteries against the Confederate defenders.
This earthwork, part of McClellan’s extensive siege works, marked the second position of Captain Thaddeus Mott’s 3rd New York Battery during the April 16, 1862 Battle of Dam No. 1. Mott’s battery, containing two 12-pound Napoleon smoothbores and four 10-pound Parrott rifles, supported the strike against the Confederate one-gun battery at Dam No. 1. During the engagement, Mott’s battery suffered ten casualties, and Confederate counter-battery fire disabled one of the Parrot rifles.
Marker can be reached from Constitution Way, on the right when traveling east.
Courtesy hmdb.org
